When Liverpool kicks off its Europa League campaign against LASK in Austria on Thursday, manager Jürgen Klopp is expected to hand opportunities to players on the fringes of the first XI, as well as his brightest youngsters.
One player who would almost certainly have featured in this fixture had he stuck around, as someone who fits into both categories, is Fábio Carvalho, but it was decided that a loan move to RB Leipzig was best for his development.
After he played just 11 Premier League minutes across three substitute appearances between his final top-flight start in October 2022 at the end of last season, it was no surprise to see Carvalho make a temporary exit, and there was optimism around his prospects of getting back on track in Germany.
“RB Leipzig have a reputation for giving young players these kinds of opportunities, which is why this is the perfect club for me to continue my development at,” an excited Carvalho said (via This is Anfield) when he sealed the transfer at the end of June.
The 21-year-old also knew he would have the opportunity to play in the Champions League, rather than Liverpool’s secondary club competition, but he will have to wait a little longer after he was left on the bench for the entirety of his side’s Group G opener away to Swiss side Young Boys on Tuesday, which ended in a 3-1 victory for the visitor.
Carvalho may have hoped to start the game after he played 26 minutes in the weekend clash with Augsburg, his longest cameo yet for Die Roten Bullen, but he wound up an unused substitute for the third time in four matches. Six games into the campaign, he’s still yet to start for his new club, and to emphasize just how little he’s featured up to this point, Carvalho thus far has completed only 20 passes, and touched the ball 29 times.
But why hasn’t he been involved? Well, it’s less a reflection on him and more on his competitors. A few weeks after landing Carvalho, Leipzig made another loan signing, recruiting the 2022/23 Dutch Footballer of the Year Xavi Simons from PSG. Simons, one of the most exciting young talents in Europe, predictably usurped Carvalho in the pecking order and has made a flying start, scoring three and setting up four more in his first six appearances.
Another player who stood in Carvalho’s way was Spain international Dani Olmo, but when he suffered an injury on duty for his country, the Liverpool man would have been hoping for an opportunity. With Marco Rose reportedly holding a ‘long one-on-one conversation’ with the player during the international break (via Bild), the stage seemed to be set. But as it turned out, Rose has favored the experienced Emil Forsberg instead in the left-sided attacking midfield role.
It’s worth emphasizing that it is still early days for Carvalho, and there’s a possibility that this was Leipzig’s plan all along — ease him in very cautiously at first with a view to using him heavily later in the season. He does, however, face a real challenge to force his way into favor given the quality of his positional peers, and it’s a little concerning that even an injury hasn’t opened the door.
For now, all Carvalho can do is follow the advice he sought from senior figures in the Liverpool dressing room before he left.
“I spoke to James Milner, the [former] captain Jordan Henderson, Joe Gomez, and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] as well,” he told NDTV. “I spoke to a few players and they just told me to keep going, keep working, and things would happen.”
Only time will tell if that commitment and focus will pay off.
