Andy Jones, The Athletic: What Fábio Carvalho brings to Brentford | OneFootball

Andy Jones, Liverpool reporter for The Athletic, has provided the lowdown on Fábio Carvalho following the midfielder's move to Brentford.

Carvalho joins the Bees with a positive pre-season under his belt – the 21-year-old impressed for Arne Slot’s side during their tour of the United States, scoring against Arsenal and Manchester United – and has got the technical qualities to be "a real creator and a real threat", says Jones.

Rumours about Brentford’s move for Fábio Carvalho started circulating on Saturday and it was completed by Monday. Are you surprised he has been sold?

No, not really. The only thing that has made it more surprising is the pre-season he has had. After scoring against Arsenal and Manchester United and generally playing quite well, you wondered if he had forced his way into Arne Slot’s plans as a new head coach means a clean slate for everyone and he had been pushed to the fringes and sent out on loan under Jürgen Klopp.

We wondered how much of an influence his performances in pre-season might have had on whether he was initially kept around, though the caveat was that Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo had been away at international tournaments and only just come back. It looks like Slot is going to use them in that left-wing role, which is where Carvalho was playing, so he would have moved down the pecking order.

Carvalho is someone who seems like he wants to be playing a lot of football, but it is difficult to know how much time he would have got on the pitch with the options at Liverpool. It is not a surprise he has moved on, but if you take a step back from it, based on performances in pre-season and the fact Liverpool do rate him highly, it was a little bit of a surprise they did not give him six months and re-assess in January.

But the money they have got would have been difficult to turn down for a player who, if we’re being honest, was going to be a substitute and get games here and there, rather than a primary starter.

It seems like it is a good deal all round, doesn’t it? Liverpool make a healthy profit just two years after signing him and Brentford get a player with significant potential…

It certainly suits all parties. When Liverpool do this type of business, they want to make sure it suits them, but also that it is best for the player.

I do not think Carvalho would have wanted another loan move; I think he would have wanted a bit more clarity with where his future was going to be, so he will have been delighted he impressed in pre-season because I imagine it will have re-affirmed his value.

Liverpool rejected a bid from Southampton for about £15 million as they valued him much higher, but I do not think they were actively marketing him. If the right offer came along, it was something they would consider as Carvalho wanted to play football.

There was obvious frustration, as there is with any player who is not playing as regularly as they want. Brentford are getting a young, talented player who is continuing to build his career. He is still a little bit unproven at Premier League level; he had that first season with Liverpool, started well and faded, before spending last season out on loan, first at RB Leipzig, which did not go well, then at Hull, which did go well.

He has still got that step up to make to prove himself, but the fact Liverpool were interested in signing him a number of years ago shows his talent. While you cannot read into everything from pre-season, he has shown he is ready to make those steps and be a key player for a Premier League side, maybe just not at that top-six level yet.

He did not play too many games in a Liverpool shirt, but what would you say his strengths are, based on what you saw from him?

He is a very technically gifted player. I have not seen loads of him, but when I did, he showed himself to be a player who is comfortable on the ball who likes to find pockets of space.

He generally operates as a no.10, but was playing left wing for Liverpool in pre-season, with a little bit of licence to roam and drift if need be.

He is not necessarily the quickest or the biggest, but he makes up for that with technical ability. You can see the development of him, tactically.

Shape is quite important for him and the 4-3-3 under Klopp did not quite suit him, which is why he dropped out of the team relatively quickly after the initial good period he had.

It looks like he is adapting to playing out wide as well, not necessarily as a speedy winger who is going to run defenders to the byline, but he is someone who can take players on and wants to be adventurous and progressive with the ball.

What is Carvalho's best position?

It will be interesting to see where he fits in. I do not necessarily think he would be part of a two-man frontline as he has made it clear he sees no.10 as his best position, so if Brentford play a 3-5-2, he might be the most advanced of the midfield three, potentially.

It has been across the line behind the strikers where he has played his best football, but Thomas Frank will know where he wants to play him as you do not spend that sort of money on a player if you do not know where you will play him.

He is a versatile, which is not always a benefit, but for a team like Brentford, who do like to change shape a bit, that quality can help as he can play in various roles depending on the system or opposition.

Character is as important as talent these days - what have you made of Carvalho in that respect?

He seems like a really confident lad, and he was comfortable mixing with the group and in the changing room when he joined.

There was understandable frustration when he dropped out of the team, but that has also added to the drive and the desire to play every minute.

Sometimes it can reflect badly on a player if they are not happy, but I remember Klopp saying during that first season about how well he was training and it was a shame he was not able to get him more involved, which suggests his attitude is still pretty spot on in terms of coming into work every day and trying to be the best player he can be.

How good do you think he can be if he is given the regular football he wants?

I think he has got loads of potential and loads of talent. He is one of those who you never quite know with, but he should show that once he has found his feet in the Premier League.

This is a big test for him, and you would expect him to get regular game time now, though he will have to earn that as it is not going to be easy for him to get into the Brentford team.

But if he does that and he is playing regular football, you will see his talent fly and he will keep developing and developing.

It is difficult to know exactly what level he might be able to get to, but it is clear he has got the technical qualities to be a real creator and a real threat.

These next two seasons are really key for him to get his head down, establish himself as a Premier League player and then build from that. Brentford fans will be hoping he does that in his first season, where he is coming in confident and with a good pre-season under his belt.