Liverpool’s squad is about to be shaken up as Cody Gakpo arrives at Anfield.
The Dutch winger is set to join the Merseyside club in January, and this move will, undoubtedly, change Jurgen Klopp’s plans going into 2023.
Make no mistake about it, Gakpo will be in and around the Reds’ first-choice starting XI in 2023, and that may spell bad news for Fabio Carvalho.
The ex-Fulham star joined Liverpool in the summer, but he’s really not gotten into his groove so far. He’s underperformed and often looked uncomfortable in the left-wing role that he’s often been slotting into.
Unfortunately for Carvalho, there’s no room for him to play in his preferred number 10 role in Klopp’s system, and now, there’s also no room down the left.
The fact that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was chosen ahead of him against Aston Villa didn’t bode well on Boxing Day, while the presence of Luis Diaz, and now Gakpo, means that the left-side is now also becoming very cramped.
Carvalho’s chances of playing first-team football at Liverpool, all of a sudden, look very limited, and the club need to figure out what to do with this young man before they waste months of his development.
In our view, a loan away from the club would make the most sense. Allowing him to experience regular Premier League football at this age is vital, and, perhaps more importantly, playing regular football, perhaps in his preferred position, should also allow him to rediscover his confidence.
At his best, Carvalho is a player who glides across the pitch with the type of swagger you’d associate with some of the world’s best, but we’re yet to truly see that side of him at Liverpool.
Gakpo arriving may mean that the ‘special‘ youngster has to go and play his football elsewhere in 2023.
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