Jurgen Klopp has labelled Fabio Carvalho as a ‘role model’ despite struggling to offer the 20-year-old much game time this season.
The Portugal U21 International was signed from Fulham in the summer but has made just 19 appearances for Liverpool this term (across all competitions) and just four appearances since the World Cup in December.
Our German tactician admitted that the talented attacker is not happy with his current situation but insisted that the youngster has showed ‘exceptional’ character in recent weeks.
“Fabio Carvalho is training exceptionally, to be honest,” Klopp said (as quoted by This Is Anfield).
“All the boys [are]. That’s the hardest part. We never had it the whole season, now we have it and all of a sudden I leave five players at home.”
“Fabio, for the situation in which he is now, in training on an absolute super level and not being involved, how he deals with it, I have to say, that’s kind of a role model.
“Not that he is happy with the situation, but he never gives up. It’s unbelievable.
“I don’t think it was probably his best skill before he arrived here, because he was this super-super talent – which he still is – but the character he shows here is exceptional.”
Carvalho has showed glimpses of his potential when given the chance but with Liverpool struggling for consistency this term he’s seen his game time extremely limited.
He has been linked with a move away from L4 this summer but with Klopp keen to praise the ex-Fulham man we’d be surprised if any exit from the club in the coming months is a permanent one.
With our German tactician looking to add at least two new midfielders to his squad ahead of next season a loan move for Carvalho would make sense to ensure he continues his development with regular first team football.
It’ll be interesting to see what decision is made regarding his future but we’re delighted to hear that he’s continuing to work hard on the training pitch.