Liverpool only made one January signing, but in an ideal world, they would have made a second addition on deadline day.
Indeed, the Reds apparently came incredibly close to signing Fabio Carvalho from Fulham. The player even reportedly did a medical with the Reds, but sadly for the Merseyside club, they couldn’t get the deal over the line in time.
Now, the Reds are in a bit of a precarious position. They’re reportedly still confident of landing the attacking midfielder in the summer, but they’re not at the front of the queue anymore.
Indeed, Carvalho is out of contract in the summer, and non-domestic clubs can open negotiations over a pre-contract agreement with him right now.
Liverpool may have agreed terms on Monday, but they now need to wait until June before they can reopen formal negotiations with the player.
Meanwhile, Carvalho has been linked to Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Porto, and if any of those three clubs come calling, it may be hard for the Fulham ace to say no.
Liverpool have been here before where a player has done a medical with the Reds only to end up elsewhere. Nabil Fekir was perhaps the most famous circumstance, but a similar situation occurred with Loic Remy.
The Reds certainly won’t want the same to happen again. After all, Carvalho is a fantastic young talent, but with the Merseyside club bound by the rules on pre-contract agreements with domestic players, they may be powerless to avoid losing out on Carvalho if a big European club gazumps them.
Carvalho to Liverpool can’t progress until the summer, but his situation is still certainly one to keep an eye on.
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