Liverpool have been told that they have a special talent in Fabio Carvalho following the midfielder’s switch away from Fulham.
Greg Cruttwell recalled watching the player for the first time as a young prodigy and making an exception for the ‘amazing’ talent that he wouldn’t regret by allowing him to join in an active training session.
“There was an aura about him, he had star quality,” the Balham FC founder told BBC Sport.
“The first ball he played was like a five-iron hitting the middle of the fairway. He had great technique, superb balance and he was so quick. A natural number 10.
“At the end of that session, I said to his mum, who hardly spoke any English, ‘please bring him to another training session, he’s amazing’. He kept coming and we signed him. eventually.”
The teenager enjoyed an impressive campaign with the Cottagers, amassing 19 goal contribution in 38 games (across all competitions) to help his side in their promotion charge.
Fast forward to the winter window and we came just short of agreeing a transfer for the exciting starlet with the window deadline falling before a full agreement could be reached.
Liverpool remained determined to get their man, however, and it would appear something of an astute signing at only £5m up front.
At 19 years of age, the expectation will be that Carvalho, much like Calvin Ramsay, will only be subjected to a sprinkling of minutes here and there (and mainly coming via cup competitions).
However, as Harvey Elliott taught fans at the start of the 2021/22 campaign, we would be far from surprised to see the attacking midfielder thrown in the deep end from the off should he sufficiently impress in pre-season.
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