Fabio Carvalho is officially a Liverpool player. With a compensation package worth up to a potential £7.7m already agreed with Fulham, once the clock struck midnight tonight, and June turned to July, the Portugal Under-21s international became a Red.
After the club ran out of time to conclude a deal for the 19-year-old on January transfer deadline day, Kopites have kept an eye on the forward’s fortunes ahead of his anticipated move. And helping Fulham win promotion to the Premier League as Championship winners, they liked what they saw even if the goals did slightly try up as transfer speculation understandably affected the teenager.
Having previously scored when handed his full Premier League debut away at Southampton in May 2021, starting upfront after the Cottagers’ relegation had been confirmed, he registered an impressive 10 goals and eight assists from 36 appearances as he predominantly played behind the prolific Aleksandar Mitrovic in the number 10 role for Marco Silva’s side last season. And despite Anfield distractions, he started to deliver in front of goal once more when promotion and the title were up for grabs.
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Signed alongside Darwin Nunez and Calvin Ramsay, Carvalho will join the Uruguayan in Liverpool’s attacking ranks as the duo look to replace the departing Sadio Mane, Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi. And while the weight of expectation for goals will lie more on the shoulders of the £85m man than the teenager, the Portuguese can still offer something the Reds have been missing since 2017.
Goals from midfield.
With this trio of signings set to be it for Klopp’s incoming business this summer, with plans for a new midfielder on hold until 2023, fans have inevitably questioned the wisdom of not signing a new midfielder. It was a similar story 12 months ago too, when Gini Wijnaldum was not replaced.
Yet, having seen Liverpool fail to score in any of their three final appearances last season, winning the two domestic cups on penalties before losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, and fail to beat any of their fellow top four sides in the Premier League, it’s understandable why supporters crave this extra firepower. Especially when midfield goals have been lacking for the majority of FSG’s Anfield reign.
Considering supporters previously grew accustomed to legendary captain Steven Gerrard even breaking the 20-goals barrier at his peak, they have grown agitated by the limit offerings from the engine room in recent seasons. After all, Gerrard is one of only three midfielders to have scored double-figures in a season since FSG bought the club back in 2010.
Yet when you consider so many of his latter goals came from the penalty spot, reaching that feat in each of his final three campaigns at Anfield doesn’t quite carry the same punch. Meanwhile, aided by two hat-tricks, Maxi Rodriguez also hit double-figures back in 2009/10.
Since Jurgen Klopp took over on Merseyside, Philippe Coutinho is the only midfielder to have ever scored double-figures for the club in a season. The Brazilian scored 12 goals in the German’s first season in 2015/16 before top-scoring with 14 goals in 2016/17 as the Reds qualified for the Champions League for only the second time since 2009.
And leaving halfway through the 2017/18 season, he hit 12 goals from 20 appearances before joining Barcelona in a club-record £142m move. With Liverpool going on to reach a Champions League final that year, who knows how many more he would have netted had he stayed put.
Granted, Coutinho was utilised on the left-wing as well as a number 10 or number eight during his time at Anfield. But with his departure prompting a change of style for the Reds under Klopp, they haven’t had a prolific goalscorer from midfield again.
James Milner would return seven goals in 2018/19, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would offer up eight in 2019/20 and Fabinho registering the same total last year but that’s the closest any of Klopp’s engine room have come. Yet Carvalho, fresh off his 11 goals last season, could be the player to change that.
While he is unlikely to be thrown straight into the Liverpool starting XI, his arrival has prompted speculation that the Reds could switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation this season with a restored use of a number 10 - a position they haven’t required since Coutinho’s exit. Yet while Carvalho, who has earned comparisons to the Brazilian, predominantly played as a number 10 for Fulham last season, he did return five goals and three assists from nine appearances in a deeper number eight role.
It remains to be seen how Klopp plans to utilise the Portuguese, but his versatility will have been one key reason behind his signing in the first place after Julian Ward was tasked with revamping Liverpool’s attacking options. And while Carvalho has been signed as part of this next-generation front-line, his arrival could also provide the goalscoring midfielder supporters have been desperate to see their side sign ever since Coutinho left the club.
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