When Fabio Carvalho left Liverpool during the summer, he did so insisting he had to do it in order to get more game time. His move away from Anfield hasn’t quite worked out yet though.
Carvalho departed Liverpool after two years with the club, during which time he struggled to make an impact. Having earned his move from Fulham in 2022, the early signs were promising, especially after his dramatic late winner against Newcastle.
He would find game time harder and harder to come by thereafter though, and the following season he would be sent out on loan to RB Leipzig. Having made just three starts for the Germany club though, he returned to Merseyside after a few months before heading out to Championship side Hull City, where he enjoyed a resurgence, scoring nine goals and adding two assists in 20 appearances.
Having returned to the Reds in the summer, Carvalho made an immediate impression under new boss Arne Slot, scoring in pre-season wins over Arsenal and Manchester United in the United States. He wouldn’t stay long though, agreeing a permanent move to Brentford shortly after as he took a parting shot at his old club.
“I’m not going to just sit on the bench because what’s the point?” he told Sky Sports after joining Brentford in August “I want to play football and show the world what I’m capable of, and why I train so hard every day. I’m not going to be able to do that by sitting on the bench.”
Carvalho added: “Wherever you go, not even just football, just life in general, like a job, you want to go somewhere where you’re going to feel wanted. You want to go somewhere where you’re going to feel part of the structure of the team, whatever it is.
“It’s the same with football. I want to go to an environment where I’m looking forward to going in every day, not when I wake up and think, ‘I have to go in’ kind of thing.”
Unfortunately for Carvalho though, the move to London doesn’t seem to have worked out as he planned. He has appeared in 11 of Brentford’s 12 Premier League games so far this season, although only two of those have come from the start.
Most of his opportunities have been via cameos from the bench, having played fewer than 20 minutes in eight of those league games (as per Transfermarkt). He has started all three of the Bees’ Carabao Cup outings so far, and has two goals and three assists in all competitions thus far, but he is finding himself on the bench far more than he would have hoped.
The worst for Carvalho came at the weekend as he was left as an unused substitute in the goalless draw against Everton. Although he might have left Liverpool aiming to prove a point to his previous employers, Carvalho is still yet to truly live up to the promise that earned him his move to Anfield in the first place.
