Liverpool: Candid director reveals young star ‘didn’t want to face the competition’ at loan club | OneFootball

Fabio Carvalho on his Hull City debut.

Liverpool youngster Fabio Carvalho “didn’t want to face the competition” at Leipzig, according to the German club’s sporting director Rouven Schroder.

Carvalho was given the opportunity to continue his development in the Bundesliga when he joined Leipzig on loan in July.

The 21-year-old failed to impress, however, playing a measly 165 minutes in the Bundesliga and 123 minutes across three appearances in the Champions League, picking up zero goal contributions along the way.

The Reds recalled Carvalho at the start of the winter transfer window as Jurgen Klopp eyed another loan move for the young winger.

He was quickly sent on loan to Championship side Hull City, where he will hopefully rediscover the form that prompted Liverpool to buy him from Fulham in 2022.

It was slightly baffling to see Carvalho fail so drastically at Leipzig, but the club’s sporting director has shed some light on why that was the case.

Schroder has said Leipzig were careful over the signing of the Portuguese Under-21 star, but quickly realised he was not up to the competition for places.

“We consciously chose Fabio last summer,” he said, (via RB Live). “He had a great season with Fulham in the English second division, which is very physical.

“We said to ourselves: great talent, good age, has already gained his experience. Still, you only get to know a player as an end product when he’s there.

“Fabio has a great character. But he realised: ‘Okay, there’s a competitor here, I have to do more!’ And we noticed that he didn’t want to face the competition.

“We asked ourselves the question: Do we feel more comfortable with a man or are we clear and straight and say: Listen, if you don’t want to go with us, then we’ll end the loan. You shouldn’t be afraid of a break-off.”

Carvalho joined Liverpool as one of the most promising young players in world football but it hasn’t happened for him since leaving Fulham 18 months ago.

He made his debut for Hull in their Championship defeat to Norwich City on Friday evening, playing 90 minutes.

The defeat leaves the Tigers seventh in the table, one point behind the play-off places.