Carvalho joins Brentford from Liverpool

Brentford has signed Fábio Carvalho from Liverpool on a five-year deal, with a one-year club option.

The attacking midfielder played 21 times for the Reds since joining in 2022. He performed well for Arne Slot’s side during their pre-season tour of the United States this summer, scoring in wins over Arsenal and Manchester United.

Carvalho joined the Reds after breaking through across the other side of west London with Fulham, as he netted 10 goals and recorded eight assists as a 19-year-old in their Championship promotion-winning campaign in 2021/22.

Loan spells last season with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and Hull City in the Championship followed; it was at the latter where he really impressed, as he scored nine times in 20 games at the end of the campaign.

On the signing, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: “Fábio is a player with a lot of qualities. He can play in all of the front three or four positions in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. His best position is probably as a no.10 or coming in from the left.

“Offensively, he has great abilities on the ball: he can go past players, slide a pass, create chances and get on the end of chances. He’s a type of player that we don’t have many of in the squad so he will add that something extra for us.

“His ability and mentality to work hard in the pressure is also very, very good. That’s along with him ticking all the boxes from a cultural perspective and being the right character. So we’re very pleased to see him come in and push the team forward.”

Carvalho was born in Portugal, where he was in Benfica’s youth academy, before a move to London with his family at the age of 11.

He played for Balham before being signed by Fulham in 2015, where he broke through into the first team during their 2020/21 campaign as an 18-year-old. He scored his first goal in a 3-1 defeat to Southampton, before the Cottagers were relegated later that season.

The attacking midfielder made 36 Championship appearances the following term, recording 18 goal contributions, as Fulham won the division.

After that incredible season as a teenager in the second tier, a move to FA and EFL Cup winners Liverpool followed, as he played 21 games and scored three goals in his first year at the club, including a last-minute winner against Newcastle United at Anfield.

He joined RB Leipzig on loan at the start of last season, before he was recalled having played nine Bundesliga games for the German outfit; Hull then signed him for the second half of the campaign, when he netted nine goals in 20 games, as the Tigers narrowly missed out on the play-offs.

Carvalho played all three of Liverpool’s games on their pre-season tour of America and scored against Arsenal and Manchester United.