'I've heard': Journalist says player passed medical but 'had cold feet' about joining Liverpool so 'deal fell through'

Liverpool were ever so close to signing Fabio Carvalho but a deal fell through at the final moment and a new version of events has been reported.

It's been widely reported that the Reds had completed a medical for the 19-year-old and agreed an £8million fee with Fulham but ran out of time.

The paperwork for his move to Liverpool and the non-negotiable return loan for the final six months of the season could not be completed in time before the 11pm deadline and so the attacking midfielder was not able to join the Reds in January.

Most supporters are not worried about the Fulham star not moving to Liverpool at the end of the season as most signs point towards him still joining the Reds, with one new report suggesting the move is "expected".

According to the Independent's Melissa Reddy, a pre-contract agreement for Fulham teenager Fabio Carvalho to join Liverpool in the summer is expected.

Yet, despite this, Duncan Castles reports on the Transfer Window Podcast a different version of events which may cast some doubts on the Reds' perceived chances of signing Fulham's exciting talent.

He claims that the skilled dribbler had cold feet about joining Liverpool and this held up a move to Anfield.

Castles said: "One version of events that I've heard is that Carvalho, who's represented primarily by his brother, passed a medical on Monday night and then had cold feet about signing the contract.

"He had reservations that Liverpool was the right place for him to go and held off long enough that the deal fell through.

"Why did the deal fall through? Because Liverpool left it late in the day to get official permission to speak to Fabio Carvalho.

"He had to take his medical rapidly, they had to agree a contract for him to go to Liverpool and they also had to do the paperwork on him being loaned back to Fulham."

Liverpool should still get a deal over the line for Carvalho as the only thing that prevented a deal from being completed, according to the vast majority of reports, was the lack of time and the EFL not using deal sheets in the Championship.

It should still be relatively easy for the Reds to beat their competition to Carvalho if he is still keen on a move to Liverpool as Fulham will be keen to avoid the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich poaching him.

The reason being that the Cottagers stand to make just £500,000 from overseas clubs due to FIFA's compensation rules, the Athletic reports, while the previously agreed £8m fee obviously represents a much higher return on their development of Carvalho.