Liverpool complete signing of Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho on five-year deal
Premier League club Liverpool have completed the signing of Fulham teenager Fabio Carvalho having failed to sign him in January.
The Portuguese teenager, who is understood to have signed a five-year contract, will officially join on July 1, the Reds announced on Monday morning.
16 Conclusions on another quiet and uneventful Premier League final day
Carvalho, out of contract this summer, was set for a move four months ago on deadline day when a £5million deal was agreed with the Sky Bet Championship winners but the transfer window closed without a medical and formal paperwork being concluded.
However, with a number of overseas clubs starting to show interest post-January the PA news agency understands Liverpool were keen to avoid being dragged into an auction for the player when his contract expired.
Therefore they subsequently agreed that in addition to the initial fee they would pay a further £2.7m in add-ons and attach a 20 percent sell-on clause to secure the player’s future ahead of the end of the season.
Those terms mirror the ones set by a tribunal over the signing of another Cottagers youngster Harvey Elliott in the summer of 2019, a transfer which was much more acrimonious.
The strained relationship between the two clubs as a result of that deal was improved by the transfer Harry Wilson to Craven Cottage last summer and the Reds were impressed with the co-operation they received from Fulham’s owner Tony Khan and chief executive Alistair Mackintosh during the Carvalho negotiations.
We can confirm Fabio Carvalho will join the club this summer.
The 19-year-old forward will officially complete a switch to the Reds on July 1 🙌
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 23, 2022
That led to Fulham granting Carvalho, who scored 10 goals in 36 league matches this season, permission to visit Liverpool’s AXA training complex to meet manager Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff, have his medical and agree personal terms.
Klopp is understood to highly value the player’s versatility, skill set and personality and his status as a home-grown player due his development at Craven Cottage is an important factor as Liverpool look to freshen up an ageing squad.
Carvalho’s arrival will help replenish a forward line, already boosted by the arrival of Luis Diaz in January, which is losing Divock Origi.
The Belgium international has not played enough matches to trigger a contract extension and was given a farewell send-off at Anfield after the 3-1 victory over Wolves.
Origi missed the match with a muscle injury and Klopp confirmed he had now played his last game for the club as the striker will not be fit for Saturday’s Champions League final.
“Div is definitely out for the final because he (got) injured in the last second of the last session (on Saturday),” said the manager.