Barca, Madrid or Dortmund? The five clubs that will challenge Liverpool to sign Fabio Carvalho
Liverpool were so close to signing Fabio Carvalho on deadline day, but they couldn’t get the transfer over the line. Their plan was to sign the talented 19-year-old for a small fee and to loan him back to Fulham for the remainder of the season, but the Reds have now left the rising star within reach of other clubs.
Carvalho’s contract with Fulham expires in the summer, so he will soon become a free agent. Although Liverpool remain confident that they can convince the teenager to join them again, the agreement they had with Fulham is now meaningless as the Championship side will no longer own the player’s rights when the next transfer window opens.
Liverpool have new direct contact scheduled with Fabio Carvalho’s camp and Fulham in February - both clubs still working to find a solution after deal collapsed on Deadline Day. 🔴🇵🇹 #LFC
Medical tests were already completed, personal terms agreed too - Klopp wants Carvalho. pic.twitter.com/Fd0OVvSRcX— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 5, 2022
There are several clubs around Europe hoping to swoop in and sign Carvalho for themselves in the summer. Here comes a look at the five most serious candidates to challenge Liverpool for his services.
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Southampton
Liverpool’s interest in Carvalho came out of the blue, as Southampton had been the top-tier side most seriously linked with the young talent before then. Their interest remains, although it’ll now be very tough for Saints to convince the England youth international to join them, given that other bigger clubs are now in the race and given they can no longer offer the chance to move up to the Premier League ahead of schedule.
AC Milan
One of the reasons why Liverpool’s failure to close the Carvalho deal is so problematic is that clubs from outside of England can already negotiate a pre-contract agreement with the soon-to-be free agent, whereas English sides aren’t allowed to do so yet. Non-English sides would also avoid a situation where a transfer fee is set by a tribunal. This is an advantage for the continental suitors, such as AC Milan. Reports in Italy claim that AC Milan directors have already been in touch with Carvalho’s representatives over a possible move.
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are linked with every young talent and that’s the case with Carvalho too. If he is to reject Liverpool’s summer offer and sign elsewhere, then it’ll have to be for an attractive project and the Bundesliga side can offer that. They’ll be able to point to the way they were a springboard for the likes of Jadon Sancho and Christian Pulisic, as well as Erling Haaland in the near future too, which may be tempting to Carvalho.
Barcelona
Barcelona’s transfer policy right now is to try to sign every attacking talent that becomes available and that is affordable, so Carvalho fits the bill here. While Barça are certainly not favourites to land the youngster, they cannot be ruled out as the chance to switch Craven Cottage for the Camp Nou could be attractive to the 19-year-old.
Real Madrid
If Barcelona are involved then you can bet Real Madrid will be attentive too. As soon as it was confirmed that Carvalho and Fulham’s agreement with Liverpool had fallen through, Real Madrid – experts themselves in deadline day mishaps – were linked with the attacking midfielder in the Spanish press. Los Blancos’ transfer policy right now is to sign the best young players around and Carvalho would surely fit right in.
