Written by James Cranford – @jamescranford89
Two months on from the transfer window slamming shut, Liverpool found themselves completing some unfinished business this week, signing Fulham star Fábio Carvalho for a fee that may eventually reach around £8 million.
There were claims during LFC’s struggles last season that the squad was ageing together and needed refreshing. In quite a short space of time, the Reds have quickly amassed a stable of young talent to take them into the next generation. The likes of Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Kaide Gordon have all seen first team action, and with players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konaté still in their early 20s, the future should be bright at Anfield.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Extra Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones for his reaction to the signing of Carvalho.
Neil said:
“I think Liverpool are quite happy with the fact that they did the groundwork in January. They’ve got the relationship with Fulham where they can agree the compensation fee without the need for a tribunal. It’s been a bit of an open secret. I think he’s a very exciting player. I think he’s got a lot of qualities that make him a massive asset. I spoke to someone at Liverpool not so long ago, the take away from it was he’ll play for a top club, whether it’s Liverpool or not. If he didn’t join Liverpool, he was going somewhere big. It’s exciting times, another good young player coming in. We’ll see him with the first team hopefully in the pre-season.”
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Redmen Reacts
Carvalho is an exciting signing, with a Premier League goal last season and Championship title (barring a disaster) to his name, all before his 20th birthday. The young man even scored against Manchester City this season, which he could with becoming a habit as he progresses in his career!
The prospect of an immediate loan back to Fulham is being talked down at the moment, which means the Portuguese u21 international will be way down in the pecking order. With Divock Origi set to leave, he may find himself battling with Taki Minamino for minutes in cup competitions and off the bench. He need only look at the selection of the likes of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott for inspiration, with Jurgen Klopp subscribing to the old adage that ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’.
