£8m Liverpool midfielder’s camp are suggesting he could still leave Anfield permanently

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As pre-season training steps up at Liverpool, players will be beginning to smell the new campaign.

The Reds kick-off their Premier League season away at Ipswich next month and that date at Portman Road will come around quickly.

In the meantime, not every member of the Liverpool squad has yet had the pleasure of meeting and working with Arne Slot.

With so many of the first-team away on international duty this summer, the early weeks of Slot’s reign have allowed him to take a look at some fringe players as well as youngsters in the academy.

Some will no doubt have caught the new head coach’s eye as he assesses his new group. For others, the end of the road could be in sight.

Fabio Carvalho future still up in the air

Slot coming in to replace Jurgen Klopp has wiped the slate clean for so many Liverpool players.

Those who were out on-loan last year, for example, have the chance to re-establish themselves. Some have already apparently done that; Slot has been impressed with Sepp van den Berg.

But for plenty of them, they are still realistically going to be out of the plans of the first-team once again.

Pre-season is the time to lay down a marker with a new head coach, though, and as Slot looks at the squad, he may already have worked out what the plan is for a lot of them.

READ MORE: Fabio Carvalho shares how he really feels about Jurgen Klopp

One player who could do with clarity more than most is Fabio Carvalho. But speaking to Anfield Index, journalist David Lynch says that Carvalho’s future beyond this summer is still unclear.

“If Jurgen Klopp had still been the Liverpool manager, he would’ve come back into the same situation – not quick enough to play out wide and probably not quick enough to play in central midfield,” says the reporter.

“However, like it is for plenty of players, it’s a new opportunity here with Arne Slot and the word from the player’s camp was that he was just coming back to see how things are and to put his head down and push the case that he should be part of that first-team squad,” Lynch adds.

“All possibilities are open, whether that is being part of the first-team squad, another loan spell or even a permanent exit possibly. All of that is on the table at the moment. His ideal situation would be to make an impact on the new manager and be in and around the first-team squad.”

Can Fabio Carvalho make an impact?

That Carvalho is still at the club as we head towards August could be slightly instructive here. The 21-year-old has looked happy and relaxed returning to Anfield and is clearly trying to make a go of it.

Carvalho admitted to struggling under Klopp during the 2022/23 season and there’s a feeling that Slot’s system could suit him better.

However, it also shouldn’t be ignored that this is a very difficult Liverpool team to get into. Especially for an attacking midfielder.

If Slot does not think he can guarantee minutes to Carvalho, then the Reds should move him on.

Signed for around £8m, Liverpool could surely bank at least double what they paid for Carvalho and the former Fulham starlet would not be short of offers. Let’s hope he can make it, but it certainly still hangs in the balance.