Liverpool reject £15m transfer offer for Southampton’s Fabio Carvalho

Liverpool have rejected a bid from Southampton worth up to £15m to sign Fabio Carvalho.

The 21-year-old was a target for the south coast club in January before joining Hull City on loan, and they showed interest again this summer after winning promotion to the Premier League.

That contact was followed by an attempt to sign Carvalho on a permanent basis, but it was rejected by the Anfield hierarchy.

Liverpool have no interest in sanctioning another temporary exit and, if they were to consider selling, the fee would need to value Carvalho considerably higher than Southampton’s offer.

Newly appointed Liverpool manager Arne Slot has been very impressed with the forward during pre-season and is set to use him in 2024-25 unless suitable offers come in.

Carvalho started all three friendlies on his US tour — wins over Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United. He found the net and looked particularly sharp against Arsenal and United.

The late return of experienced players such as Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota gave Carvalho a platform to thrive and he capitalised on that both in matches and training.

Changing formation to 4-2-3-1 could be a natural fit for the No.10, although Slot also rates Carvalho in his preferred position, left wing; where Philippe Coutinho was deployed at a similar age.

Carvalho has scored 29 goals and provided assists in 56 Championship appearances for Hull and previously Fulham, which adds to his profile that would appeal to Liverpool themselves if he were on the market.

The striker would ideally like to stay, however his clear priority is playing time. He wants to be a key player and not a secondary contributor, even if that means moving to a supposedly lesser team.

The variety of Slot options in the area Carvalho prefers to operate in could hamper the chances of that happening at Liverpool, and discussions over his future will take place once they return to the UK.

It is unclear how far Southampton will push – Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley is being pursued in parallel – but their boss Russell Martin made a strong impression on Carvalho during their talks in the winter. Other sides are also sure to be chasing him in the weeks leading up to the transfer deadline.

Liverpool signed Carvalho from Fulham in 2022 and he has a contract until June 2027.

(Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)