Liverpool winger Fabio Carvalho has failed to score or assist for RB Leipzig all season despite being compared to David Beckham upon his arrival at Anfield. Carvalho was snapped up by the Merseyside giants after tearing up the Championship with Fulham two seasons ago, with his impressive showings playing a major role in helping the Cottagers to win promotion.
The forward only made 21 appearances for Liverpool last season, which led to him being sent on loan to RB Leipzig ahead of the current campaign. The move has not exactly gone to plan, though, with Carvalho yet to get himself a goal or an assist for the Bundesliga side as of yet.
Carvalho has only started once for Leipzig in the Bundesliga, with the vast majority of his appearances coming off the bench. He has also been restricted to just 31 minutes of football in the Champions League as a substitute against Red Star Belgrade and Manchester City.
The Liverpool loanee has faced stiff competition for places from the likes Dani Olmo and Xavi Simons, with Leipzig boss Marco Rose insisting earlier this week that he will keep working hard in order to get his opportunity to shine.
“He’s a good boy, a good footballer and you can see his qualities,” explained Rose. “He has real goals in front of him in his position. He’s close, but he has to stick with it. Then he’ll definitely get opportunities again and again, to show yourself.
“He is broadening our squad and has been getting more playing time in the last few games. He has to use this and excel in training too.”
Carvalho will certainly be hoping for more minutes at Leipzig in the second half of the season as he looks to keep developing on an upward trajectory. He was once likened to Beckham by Liverpool legend Phil Thompson, who waxed lyrical over his qualities and tipped him to ‘shock everybody’ upon his move to Anfield two summers ago.
“The boy Carvalho is going to be some player by the way,” Thompson told Off The Ball. “Because of his age and because he’s so young you would think that, but you have a year in the Championship and that is a tough league. I’ve seen enough of him at Fulham.
“I didn’t watch all of the games, but what he brings as much as goals are his assists. That’s what people look at. Yes, you can help people with those, but you need to have it a la David Beckham and that’s what Carvalho is. He’s going to be a star, he will shock everybody.”
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