Who is Fabio Carvalho?

*Stats correct as of 30 June 2023

Fabio Carvalho

Age: 20

Club: RB Leipzig (on loan from Liverpool)

Position: Attacker

Country: Portugal (U21 - four caps, two goals)

Key stats

Born 40 kilometres north of Lisbon in Torres Vedras, Carvalho impressed from an early age in the youth ranks of Portuguese giants Benfica. Not long afterwards, he moved to London with his family as an 11-year-old and began playing for Balham Football Club, located in the south of the city.  

With several high-profile clubs soon showing an interest in the highly skillful attacker, Fulham moved quickly to bring Carvalho into their ranks. He hit the ground running at Craven Cottage, so much so that he was invited to represent England at youth level, which he did with the country’s U15s all the way up to the U18s, making 29 appearances in total for the young Three Lions.

After turning pro with Fulham in 2020, the Portuguese schemer quickly made his senior bow with the club in the league cup before later netting on his maiden Premier League appearance against Southampton in May 2021.

It was the following season - 2021-22 - that would really bring Carvalho to the fore, however. With Fulham chasing promotion back to the English top-flight, their Portuguese wizard burst out of the blocks, scoring three times in his first five matches to win a Young Player of the Month award. 

In all, he hit 11 goals and laid on eight assists in 38 games in all competitions as Fulham won promotion as champions of England’s second tier. During that season, Portugal came calling and Carvalho was convinced to team up with the country of his birth, scoring and assisting twice in four UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers. 

In July 2022, the youngster’s switch to Liverpool was made official, with former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp a huge fan of Carvalho’s promise. He scored goals against Bournemouth and Newcastle United the following month - the latter a last-minute winner - to help enhance his growing reputation. Yet having ended the 2022/23 campaign with just 13 Premier League appearances, the 20-year-old is now ready to try his hand at the Bundesliga as he seeks more playing time with Leipzig.

Plays a bit like: Florian Wirtz

Just like the Bayer Leverkusen and Germany magician, Carvalho has a spectacular first touch, a quick turn and an ability to spot gaps through which to place the slickest of forward passes. Both players are also keen scorers of spectacular goals, with Carvalho boasting the added ability of being able to quickly locate spaces between the lines and inside the area, in a similar way to Wirtz.  

Did you know?

Carvalho’s mother is from the Portuguese island of Madeira - birth place of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo - while his father is half-Angolan, half-Portuguese.

What they're saying

"Carvalho is a huge talent - the fact that Liverpool signed him recently just proves that. He's quick, agile, full of tricks and creative. He likes to get shots away and can also set his teammates up." - Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl

“Fabio has natural talent, and when you have natural talent, that is the first big step to having a big career and to getting to the top,” - Carvalho's coach at Fulham, Marco Silva, in quotes appearing on The Athletic

“What a talent he is, hey? A player who can bring a stadium to its feet. He puts his personality into his performances, he is confident and adventurous with the ball, and he wants to make things happen. He is a versatile player for sure and is very much an attacking threat with his creativity and dynamism.” - Jürgen Klopp speaks shortly after Carvalho’s arrival at Liverpool