Jurgen Klopp spoke to the media ahead of the Reds massive clash with Newcastle United and discussed midfielder Fabio Carvalho’s lack of first-team minutes as of recently. The 20-year-old has not appeared in the Premier League since November after he moved from Fulham to Liverpool last summer.
Klopp spoke about Carvalho during his pre-Newcastle press conference, addressing why the youngster has failed to even make the matchday squad in the last number of games.
“Fabio is a very young player, big talent, absolutely,” the boss began. “He played well for us in a couple of games. Now it’s the situation where we have to make the squad and he couldn’t make it for the last one. That’s how it is, that’s the truth.”
“He didn’t play too often because, from my point of view, we needed different skills when we started or when we changed during the games. That’s pretty much all, he did nothing wrong. He improved a lot, he developed a lot, he’s a good kid in the middle of the group, in the middle of the squad.”
“Obviously, he’s not in a happy place at the moment. You cannot see that on the pitch or when I see him. It’s not really obvious, but I can imagine because he’s a footballer he wants to play, and he didn’t play often enough.
“That cannot help a lot but that’s another thing in a long career that you have to go through. For me it looks in the moment that he takes it as good as is possible.”
The rise of Stefan Bajcetic, another young player with huge potential, has further hampered Carvalho’s ability to break into Liverpool’s midfield.
Carvalho is also a capable winger, but the arrival of Cody Gakpo and the return of Diogo Jota from injury has made opportunities out wide scarce.
With the Champions League knockouts on the horizon, Klopp may be forced to prioritize certain games. If Klopp chooses to rest some big players in the Premier League, Carvalho may be able to find some valuable minutes in the first team.
