The January transfer window proved to have an exciting end in store for Liverpool, with the high-profile signing of Luis Diaz acting as a shot in the arm to everyone connected to the club, from its fans to Jurgen Klopp himself.
Monday was a busy day for the Reds, with Nat Phillips and Neco Williams both heading to the Championship on loan, and most of the drama centred around a potential incoming from the same league.
Unfortunately, Liverpool did not manage to get the deal for Fulham’s Fabio Carvalho over the line before the window closed.
Will this missed opportunity cost Liverpool in the long term, or is the signing of the Portuguese born attacker merely a formality?
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked Goal’s Neil Jones on the chances of us seeing Carvalho line up for the Reds in the future.
Neil said:
“Why would they want to sign him before the deadline? It’s because it avoids months of the risk of the phone ringing and someone saying, ‘Leipzig have said we’ll give him the number ten shirt, and he’s going to start every game.’
That kind of risk that Liverpool are taking bodes well, that he was obviously going to join Liverpool, he was prepared to join, he was ready to. He was willing to come to Liverpool, so hopefully, that bodes well for whatever happens now. I’m not going to say ‘I’m sure’, but I’m sure there will be heavy negotiations at Liverpool.
The player is happy to come, hopefully, Liverpool will get it done. The reason they wanted it done there and then is so they can put their feet up for the next four months without worrying about who’s pitching his parents, who is trying to turn his head, who has suddenly entered the race. There are a lot of clubs, I think Chelsea are one of the clubs who would absolutely take Fabio Carvalho. That was why Liverpool wanted to get the deal done.”
Redmen Reacts
Having ‘gazumped’ Tottenham in the race to sign Luis Diaz, Liverpool will be hoping nobody does the same to them with Fabio Carvalho!
It was frustrating to see the negotiations get so close, but then not end up completed before the transfer window closed. Hopefully a ballpark figure has been agreed for the player, and he will be the first in through the door come the opening of the summer window.
There will be few clubs in Europe more attractive than the Reds, with any player jumping at the chance to work with Jurgen Klopp and compete for trophies. Carvalho will hopefully have seen the progression of the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott in recent years, which proves to him there is space available for teenage talent in the Liverpool starting XI.
He will have to go some to hold down a regular starting spot, but with the exit door potentially looming for the likes of Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi, his opportunities may not be so limited come the 2022/23 season.
The fact that the youngster is still happy to move to Liverpool, despite all of the messing around during the last few weeks, will be music to the ears of Reds supporters across the world.
