Liverpool seem to be pressing ahead with a move for Fulham talent Fabio Carvalho – which would bring an end to years of pursuing the playmaker.
The Reds pushed for a deal on deadline day, which would have seen them pay £10million and loan Carvalho back to Fulham.
That added loan return complicated a late move and meant Liverpool ran out of time to strike a deal.
90Min claim that Fulham still expect Carvalho to sign for Liverpool soon, because he wants to play for Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.
Out of contract this summer, Carvalho will still cost compensation but Liverpool look to be at the front of the queue.
Carvalho, 19, scored against Manchester City on Saturday to take his tally for the season to eight goals and four assists in all competition.
A silky number 10 with real creativity and an eye for goal, Carvalho can play for both England and Portugal on the international stage.
Combining Carvalho will fellow Fulham academy graduate Harvey Elliott for years to come is an exciting prospect – especially as Liverpool spent years chasing him.
That’s according to Greg Cruttwell, who founded Balham FC and brought in Carvalho back in 2013.
Carvalho and his family had just moved over to England from Portugal, and Cruttwell was trusted to sort out the playmaker’s future.
Cruttwell has told The Mirror that Liverpool joined Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the race for Carvalho when he was just 14.
Fulham won the race in the end, but it’s clear that many inside Liverpool have wanted Carvalho for years – and that lengthy pursuit could soon pay off.
“When it got to 14, first of all Fulham had seen him then pretty much every club came calling – Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool,” said Cruttwell. “You know how it is with pro clubs – when one or two get a sniff of someone, everyone is immediately interested “They want to stop the other clubs getting the diamond in the rough, and Fabio is definitely that.”
“There was a whole circus around it,” Cruttwell admits. His parents wanted me and Balham to handle things for them at the time as they hardly spoke any English at the time, and there was an awful lot of pressure on them. Arsenal and Chelsea doing everything to get him, Man United flew down from Carrington to meet me in a secondary school portacabin in Balham at a venue we trained at.
“But Fulham were at the front of the queue, and they were brilliant. They were the most professional, and their academy is obviously a top academy, even if the first team isn’t at the same level as the others. Obviously going to Cobham or Carrington is like going to Disneyland for a kid, but his parents saw past that and saw the people at Fulham were more than just football people,” he added.
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