Marco Silva has confirmed that Liverpool-bound Fabio Carvalho will not be playing for Fulham next season.
The former Hull, Watford and Everton boss claimed that the youngster ‘has a brilliant career’ ahead of him and didn’t attempt to hide his disappointment at the fact the Lisbon-born talent is leaving Craven Cottage.
“I think he (Carvalho) has a brilliant career in front of him. He is a top top talent in my opinion,” the former Everton boss said (via The Mirror).
“Unfortunately for me, I probably arrived a little bit late in this football club. With more time, he would have renewed his contract before. Definitely. It was a tough moment for us that we couldn’t renew the contract before. And of course when a player that age starts to play the way he played week in, week out, doing very good performances every single match.
“There were many clubs around him, a lot of rumours around him, and (it) was really tough for us to renew his contract. It is not not normal for a boy of 19 years old, from the first two months of the season, (to have) a lot of rumours around him from clubs around Europe.
“He never lost the focus, he let other people take care of it, and he really helped our football club to get promotion, to be champions. For a boy of 19 it is a fantastic sign and I believe that he has all the qualities to perform at a high level and to keep improving.
“Unfortunately he will not be in our shirt next season but I wish all the best for him.”
We were of course close to signing the 19-year-old in January but the relevant paperwork wasn’t completed in time, but it’s now believed that all the groundwork has been done to ensure the attacking midfielder will be at Anfield next season.
He contributed 11 goals and eight assists for Fulham this season as they lifted the Championship title and returned to the top-flight once again.
Jurgen Klopp is not afraid to hand chances to our younger players and at the beginning of the season, ex-Fulham star Harvey Elliott looked set for a starring role in our midfield this season.
A nasty ankle injury kept the 19-year-old sidelined for a significant amount of time earlier this campaign and he hasn’t featured as much as he would’ve liked since, but Anfield is certainly a great place for players to develop and gain vital experience.
As Silva has highlighted, there were a number of clubs sniffing around Carvalho so for us to have reportedly secured his signature is a major coup.
We can’t wait to see what he can contribute in a Red shirt in the coming seasons.