While Klopp is now experiencing great success, the German tactician is struggling with something that is edging closer to him. The problem lies with Fabio Carvalho, who hasn’t done much while on loan at RB Leipzig so far—possibly not as much as he did in his Liverpool rookie season.
The Portuguese attacking midfielder struggled to play for minutes in his first season on Merseyside, totaling just 638, or the equivalent of seven complete games, despite scoring three goals. He has only started six of Liverpool’s 51 games this season. But Carvalho was training “exceptionally,” according to Klopp, who also declared in April that “Fabio is the player who has impressed me the most” in May.
His unwavering work ethic and undeserved training will pave the way for an amazing career. Everything depends on the player and how he reacts if I choose not to play him or include him on the squad. He had never responded to me in such a row before. Fantastic.
Former Fulham youth product Carvalho was loaned to the Bundesliga for the entire season with the goal of developing into a better player when he returned to Liverpool. However, he has only made two starts in 13 Leipzig games, and he has not been used as a substitute in the previous four.
Klopp and company will face severe problems if it continues. A second season as a benchwarmer would hinder the 21-year-old’s development, and it would likely be essential for him to spend an additional year on loan in 2024–2025. Rumor has it that Liverpool will surely explore activating their recall option, which is active throughout the January transfer window, given the current circumstances.
The problem is that it will require some wrangling to reduce the deal because Leipzig is thought to have paid a fee to temporarily obtain Carvalho. Not everything can be as easy as notifying Leipzig of the loan cancellation. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Germans will want to miss out on their ambitions to win the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and Champions League championships.
