Liverpool forward Fabio Carvalho has returned home after a disappointing half-season loan spell at RB Leipzig.
There had been high hopes for Carvalho in the summer, as he headed off for a full campaign with the German side. But with the 21-year-old starting just one Bundesliga game so far, Liverpool weren’t happy. As a result, Fabio is now back at Anfield.
It’s been a bit of a head-scratcher for Reds fans who were perhaps expecting Carvalho to play far more than he has for Leipzig.
And speaking to rbleipzig.com, the Bundesliga side’s sporting director Rouven Schroder has attempted to find the reasoning for the youngster’s lack of time in the team.
“We were able to sign a young player with plenty of potential over the summer in Fabio Carvalho,” Schroder begins. “Fabio was able to quickly integrate himself here, but both parties had expected more from his time here – especially Fabio in terms of his playing time.
“Due to the quality and competition within our squad at his position, we are unable to guarantee this for him. We held several discussions over the last days and in the end, decided to end his loan early. We would like to thank Fabio for his efforts at RBL and wish him all the best for the future.”
Carvalho returns to Liverpool
This is essentially just a fancy way of saying that Carvalho wasn’t good enough to get in the team from Schroder.
The ‘quality and competition within the squad’ means little if a player can rise above it and show that he deserves playing time. Clearly, and unfortunately, Fabio was never able to do that in Germany.
Consequently, it was absolutely the right decision for Liverpool to bring him back home. If sitting out of the team was hurting his development on the pitch, then it will certainly have been hurting Carvalho’s confidence, too. That had to be stopped.
Despite his poor time at Leipzig, it seems that the Reds are set to send the Portugal U21 international away for the second-half of the season [Fabrizio Romano on X].
If that is the case, then they simply have to pick a better environment for him this time around.
We personally think at this stage it would be a better idea to keep Carvalho at Anfield. With Liverpool now very much in a title race – and set to lose Mohamed Salah for a period – they could do with all the help they can get.
He wouldn’t be a regular starter by any means, but the Reds are still in four competitions. If Carvalho can contribute in any way to helping them win one of those trophies, his recall will have been worth it.
Either way, head up Fabio, there are better days ahead.
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