Liverpool have received an offer for Fabio Carvalho and now face a big decision on what they want for the player. Carvalho returned from RB Leipzig this month.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Wolves want Fabio Carvalho and have already contacted Liverpool bout a loan deal. They want him for the rest of the season after his return from RB Leipzig.
Carvalho went to Germany in the summer for what appeared to be an ideal loan deal. It quickly turned into a disaster, however, as Leipzig barely even used the playmaker.
No goal, no assists and just 135 Bundesliga minutes. It couldn’t really go worse than that – not even the equivalent of two full games. Liverpool and Carvalho both wanted to cancel the deal and did so once the transfer window opened.
But Carvalho’s ability means offers have come in. Wolves want him, while there have been linked to Fulham. Romano reports that several ‘top six’ Championship sides have also put in offers to Liverpool.
That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone as Carvalho’s efforts in Fulham’s promotion campaign are what built his reputation. Plenty of clubs in the Championship would like that in their squad as they fight for the Premier League.
Liverpool now need to decide what they want. Carvalho would be guaranteed to play every single week in the Championship – and likely perform as one of the best players in the league.
The Premier League wouldn’t give him the same guarantee, though it would give him a much better learning experience. After all, Carvalho has already reached the top of the Championship – it’s debatable how much he gains from doing it again.
But first and foremost, as Romano says, Liverpool want that guaranteed gametime. Finding the club that can truly promise that is priority one and that’ll win a club Carvalho this month.
Liverpool weighing up move to sign £60m Premier League forward
The Reds are being linked with a number of players as the January transfer window swings into action. Highest on the agenda is said to be a new centre-back, with Borussia Monchengladbach’s Ko Itakura one of those linked.
Another position in need of some attention is defensive midfield. To that end, Liverpool are reportedly keeping a close watch over Genoa midfielder Morten Frendrup. But according to Football Transfers today, the Reds are also starting to explore the market for a forward. They claim that Liverpool are ‘considering an approach’ for Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise.
Olise is also said to be attracting interest from Manchester United, with the Reds and the Red Devils set to ‘engage in a tussle’ for the 22-year-old.
Any such fight will reportedly have to wait for the summer, with Olise set to stay at Selhurst Park until the end of the season. However, when the time comes, it’s claimed that the France U21 international has a release clause of £60m inserted into his contract. Palace are said to be adamant that this be paid in full.
It remains to be seen just how highly Liverpool value Olise. But the Reds reportedly see the former Reading man as a ‘strategic’ addition for the right-wing and a potential long-term successor to Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool weighing up Olise approach
You can understand why Liverpool would be keeping an eye on Olise’s progress at Crystal Palace.
Since arriving in 2021, the Frenchman has been on an upward trajectory. That has culminated in an excellent season so far, with five goals in just nine Premier League games.
This has culminated in Brentford boss Thomas Frank calling Olise – as well as teammate Eberechi Eze – “two fantastic offensive players, two of the best in the league in my opinion” [The Telegraph].
Frank’s praise came on December 30th, as Olise put his Brentford side to sword with two goals.
It was the kind of performance which showed why Chelsea were so keen to sign him last summer. But with a deal seemingly almost done, Olise pulled out and penned a new contract with Palace instead [The Guardian].
As a result, it would make sense for that new deal to include a release clause. £60m sounds a little high to us for the time being, but if Olise can keep delivering throughout the second-half of the season, then it may start to look more attractive.
Whatever happens, Liverpool won’t be scared of doing battle with United, should it come to that. Olise only has to look at the example of Jadon Sancho to see what happens when you pick Old Trafford over Anfield.
In our opinion, the Palace man still has a fair bit to do to show that he can cut it at Anfield. But he’s certainly one now worth keeping a closer watch over.
Related Topics
Journalist Fabrizio Romano has dismissed some rumours surrounding Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Having failed to register a single appearance for Liverpool this season, Thiago is seemingly closing in on a return to fitness.
However, with the transfer window now open – and his contract into its last six months – the Spaniard has also been linked with a move away.
Thankfully, transfer expert Romano has now put any rumours of Thiago leaving to bed. Writing on his Daily Briefing this morning, the journalist reported that the 32-year-old is still completely focused on Liverpool.
“Despite the rumours, no, I’m not aware of any movement for Thiago Alcantara right now,” Romano says.
“It’s a very quiet January for him so far. No talks and focus on Liverpool as he wants to return as soon as possible on the pitch. The story could change in the summer, but now it’s very quiet.”
Thiago going nowhere in January
With Thiago set to rebuff any interest and stay at Liverpool, fans will be hoping to get a glimpse of him very soon.
It has now been nine months since the Spain international was last seen on the pitch for the Reds. That’s too long to go without a quality player like Thiago.
Unfortunately though, it’s something Reds supporters have had to get used to since his £25m move in 2020. Three-and-a-half years on, Thiago is averaging just 28 appearances per season for Liverpool.
Given his high wages, it’s those kinds of statistics which make it unlikely that the Reds’ No.6 will be offered a new deal at Anfield.
Nevertheless, Jurgen Klopp and his coaches clearly rate Thiago very highly. If there’s an arrangement that can work for all parties to keep the former Barcelona man on Merseyside, maybe it will still happen.
For now though, the most likely scenario feels like Thiago leaving at the end of the season. At that point, should he have managed to get himself fit, he shouldn’t be short of options.
Barcelona have been rumoured to be back in for their academy graduate for a while now. Thiago also reportedly turned down several approaches from Saudi Arabia last year, too. His allure is still there.
Only time will tell whether Liverpool themselves are still under the spell of one of the silkiest midfielders of all time. But by the sounds of it they’ll still have until the summer to make up their minds.
It’s been a little tricky few months for Darwin Nunez recently. At the moment, there is no denying the Uruguayan is struggling in front of goal.
One moment after another, he’s been really unfortunate in terms of not quite being able to produce the kind of numbers that his underlying numbers would suggest he should be producing.
However, even on the surface, it’s certainly not all doom and gloom for the Liverpool number nine. He’s made 16 goal contributions at the half-way stage for Liverpool already and has averaged a goal or assist every 96 minutes in all competitions.
That’s not a bad return at all, and if we look underneath the surface, his underlying numbers suggest his output could soon turn out to be even better.
Nunez offering more threat than Salah
Taking a look at FBref, Nunez has only averaged 0.47 goals per 90 for Liverpool this season. However, when you look at his expected goals, that number should be a lot higher.
According to FBref, Nunez’s non-penalty expected goals is 0.72 per 90 minutes 0.25 times more than his actual output. That’s a significant difference and it is by far the best output in the Liverpool squad this season – even higher than Mohamed Salah – who only averages 0.50 non-penalty expected goals.
But what does this all mean?
It means Nunez is getting into the right places and the right areas to score goals – even more often than Salah. The only thing he is lacking is the finishing. However, that can be worked on, and he’s already shown over the course of his career that he can be a prolific goal-scorer.
It would be a lot more concerning if he wasn’t getting in the right areas and accumulating as much expected goals. But the fact that he is, suggests it is only a matter of time until he starts to really explode in a Liverpool shirt.
Liverpool’s recruitment stategy over the Jurgen Klopp years has often been held up as an example for other top teams to follow.
Time and time again the Reds have turned a slightly underwhelming signing on paper into a quite brilliant addition in reality.
But as well as homing in on who to sign, Liverpool have done well in choosing who not to sign. For example, even as recently as this summer, the Reds missed out on Romeo Lavia and Mosies Caciedo in what has so far proven to be a couple of bullets dodged.
It’s early days for both and Chelsea and it should be said that Liverpool did want both players. But nevertheless, more often than not things go well for them in the market.
Another of those good decisions has appeared to be leaving Jadon Sancho for Manchester United back in 2021. There were plenty of rumours linking Liverpool with Sancho at the time, and even claims from the player himself that his Reds-based England teammates had tried to get him to join them at Anfield [Liverpool ECHO].
In the end though, the then 21-year-old headed to Old Trafford for £73m. Two-and-a-half years on, things have turned sour for Sancho. According to Fabrizio Romano, he’s set to seal a loan return to Borussia Dortmund. Another good decision for Liverpool to avoid him then? Well, in all honesty, no. We’re still rueing this one.
Sancho left with Liverpool regret
We actually think that had Sancho joined Liverpool, not United back in 2021, he’d now be one of the very best forwards in the world.
With turmoil at Old Trafford, the Red Devils haven’t been in a good place ever since he joined. Last year was slightly better for them. But clearly not in Erik ten Hag’s favour, Sancho has never really found his place.
It’s hard to imagine that being the case at Liverpool. Pegged as a potential Sadio Mane replacement, the England international could have taken over from Mane and would now be first-choice on the Reds left.
Joining six months before Luis Diaz eventually did, Sancho’s arrival would have meant Diaz probably went to Tottenham Hotspur instead.
Of course, this is all mere daydreaming. No one can know for sure how Jadon would have fared coming from Dortmund to Liverpool. But under Klopp and with a functioning system around him – and big characters to take him under their wing – we think he’d have thrived.
Still only 23, it seems likely that Sancho may eventually head back to Dortmund on a permanent basis. If that does end up happening, then perhaps we should be keeping an eye on his progress.
Obviously, once he moved to United, it seemed like Liverpool’s chances of ever getting Sancho were over. But with things having gone so poorly for him in Manchester, maybe the Reds will get a reprieve. Signing him from Dortmund wouldn’t seem so out of the question.
At the time it felt like Liverpool were making a mistake allowing United a free run at Sancho. In the years since that notion has become almost laughable. But there is an alternate reality where the former City youngster joins the Reds and turns into the player he should have become. Perhaps there’s still time for that reality to become this one.
Leave a Reply