According to journalist David Lynch This is Anfield, Liverpool are now hoping to secure a loan deal that will not help the 21-year-old’s development. Leipzig sporting director Reuven Schröder has publicly ruled out Carvalho’s anticipated return. He described this week’s events as a “classic power play” and claimed the player was under contract until the end of the season and “will do it”. Give him play time.”Whether Carvalho returns or not, his case is emblematic of a bigger problem at Liverpool this season. Elsewhere, right-back Calvin Ramsey made his debut in November after 13 months of injury-hit senior football, limiting him to 131 minutes for Championship club Preston North End. To make matters worse, after two outings he was again sidelined by COVID-19. Meanwhile, Rhys Williams has been sent to Ramsay’s former club Aberdeen but is yet to feature in the Dons’ first team. Unlike Ramsay, Williams’ fitness could not be faulted as he was on the bench for all six Europa Conference League group stage matches without playing a single minute. According to The Daily Mail, Liverpool are also considering recalling the defender in mid-season.
With Jurgen Klopp losing all his centre-backs for the 2020/21 season, Nat Phillips, who had a brief but memorable partnership with Williams, was more involved for Celtic and could not break into Brendan Rodgers’ first XI. He has only played in three league games so far and one of Celtic’s Champions League group stage games. At this point, Rodgers prefers other options, so he benched Phillips 13 times in total.
It could be argued that Carvalho and Ramsey are the only players of these five likely to play long-term for Liverpool, but that is not the only reason for the move. It can also be used to increase a player’s value, as seen with players such as Rhian Brewster, Ryan Kent, Marko Grujic and Harry Wilson. In the end, they earned Liverpool a total of $69m (£54m/€63m). . Make an impression elsewhere. But for now only Van den Bergh’s credit can have that effect. The rest seem to have failed on both counts. Harvey Elliott’s move to Blackburn Rovers in 2020 and Julian Ward, his last sporting director, becoming loan manager have become Liverpool’s recent highlights. Blackburn was the perfect match in style for Elliott, who was in his prime at Ewood Park, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists in 41 Championship games.
When he returned, he was ready to contribute regularly to Liverpool’s first team. Liverpool have fallen well below that level this year, and while some circumstances are beyond their control (such as Ramsey’s injury problems), they may find they can choose their player destinations more carefully. In the short term, the club should do everything possible to bring Carvalho and Williams back at least in January and then assess how to restart the pair’s development elsewhere. Loans have been disappointing overall this season, but there is still time for real gains in 2023/24.
Last week, it was reported that Liverpool held talks with RB Leipzig about the possibility of bringing back Fabio Carvalho from his season-long loan in the Bundesliga. Since joining this summer, Carvalho has made 14 appearances for the club, but just three of those have been starts, playing a total of 354 minutes.
He is one of five loanees from United’s first team, a group that also includes centre-back Sepp van den Bergmann, who has made real strides for compatriot Mainz, making 12 league appearances so far.
