Liverpool have rejected a bid from Southampton worth up to £15million to sign Fabio Carvalho.
The 21-year-old was a target for the south coast club in January prior to joining Hull City on loan and they expressed interest again this summer after winning promotion to the Premier League.
That contact has now been followed up with an approach to land Carvalho on a permanent basis, but it was turned down by the Anfield hierarchy.
Liverpool have no desire to sanction another temporary departure and if they are to consider selling, the fee would need to value Carvalho considerably higher than Southampton’s offer.
Newly-appointed Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been hugely impressed with the forward throughout pre-season and anticipates utilising him in 2024-25, unless suitable proposals arrive.
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Carvalho started all three friendlies on their USA tour — victories over Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United. He found the net and looked particularly sharp against Arsenal and United.
The late return of senior squad members such as Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota gave Carvalho a platform to flourish and he has capitalised in both the matches and training.
Changing formation to 4-2-3-1 might present a natural opening at No.10, although Slot also rates Carvalho in his favoured wide left position; where Philippe Coutinho was deployed at a similar age.
Carvalho has impressed slot during pre-season (Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Carvalho delivered 29 goals and assists in 56 appearances at Championship level for Hull and previously Fulham, which contributes to him possessing a profile that Liverpool themselves would be attracted to if he was on the market.
The attacker would ideally like to stay, however his clear priority is game time. He wants to be a key player and not a bit-part contributor, even if it means transferring to a so-called smaller team.
Slot’s variety of options in the area Carvalho prefers to operate may harm the chances of that happening at Liverpool and discussions about his future will take place once they return to the UK.
It is unclear how far Southampton will push — Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley is being pursued in parallel — but their boss Russell Martin made a strong impression on Carvalho during their talks in the winter. Other sides are also sure to pursue him in the weeks ahead of the transfer deadline.
Liverpool recruited Carvalho from Fulham in 2022 and he is under contract until June 2027.
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(Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
