Paul Merson has hailed Liverpool’s acquisition of former Fulham prodigy Fabio Carvalho but believes the Reds’ midfield is ‘on its last legs’.
Carvallho, an attacking midfielder, joined the Reds for a £5m fee upon the expiry of his contract at Craven Cottage. He excelled for Fulham last season, scoring 10 times and adding eight assists in 36 games as they romped to the Championship title.
His signing is part of Jurgen Klopp’s wider strategy to bring in talented homegrown youngsters to Anfield as he continues to evolve his squad after signing a new contract earlier this year. Carvalho joins a number of other young stars who the Reds have bought over the past few years including Harvey Elliot, Calvin Ramsay and Kaide Gordon.
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And Merson believes that while he doesn’t expect the former Fulham star to have an immediate impact, Klopp is the perfect manager for his long-term development.
“Fabio Carvalho is not someone who will start from week one for Liverpool, but this guy is a top talent and played a big role in Fulham’s promotion bid last season,” the Arsenal legend told sportskeeda .
“Jurgen Klopp just makes players better and I personally like his eye for talent. He did something similar with Harvey Elliott last season and the kid was playing unreal football before his injury against Leeds United, so I expect Carvalho to play an important role for Liverpool.”
Merson also explained how he thinks Carvalho’s career at the Reds will develop and pointed at him being a solution to a problem area in Klopp's squad.
He said: “I think this is the kind of signing other managers might look at and think, ‘why didn’t we get him?’, because he’s a fantastic talent. I’m not sure, but my best guess is that Carvalho will start off as an attacker before eventually being transitioned into midfield.
“You look at the likes of Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara and realise that Liverpool’s midfield is running on its last legs, so I’m sure there’s some kind of succession plan already in place.”
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