Transfer Centre

Hull City owner confirms Fabio Carvalho agreement

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 08 January 2024

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali confirms that Liverpool attacker Fabio Carvalho will be joining the Tigers on loan for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign.

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has confirmed that the Tigers have agreed to sign Liverpool attacker Fabio Carvalho on loan for the remainder of the season.

The 21-year-old was recalled to Liverpool earlier this month on the back of an unsuccessful spell with RB Leipzig in the first half of the 2023-24 season, in which he failed to register a single goal or assist in 15 games.

Even with Mohamed Salah competing at the Africa Cup of Nations and Ben Doak out with a knee injury, Carvalho remains below Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota in the attacking pecking order at Anfield.

As a result, Liverpool have sought out another loan move for the ex-Fulham man for the second half of the campaign, and he has been tipped to return to Craven Cottage for the next six months.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are also believed to have shown an interest in taking Carvalho on a temporary basis, but Liverpool desired a Championship switch for the Portuguese attacker in order to maximise his chances of regular minutes.

Liverpool's Fabio Carvalho celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on August 31, 2022 © Reuters

Leicester City, Southampton and Leeds United are all said to have registered their interest, but it was reported earlier on Monday that Hull were closing in on the capture of Carvalho, who had already spoken to Tigers head coach Liam Rosenior.

Hull already have one Liverpool-owned player in their ranks in Tyler Morton, who is also said to have played a key role in convincing Carvalho to join him at the MKM Stadium, and Ilicali confirmed to Sky Sports News that an announcement is imminent.

"We agreed all terms with him. I'm very happy to say he's going to wear the Hull shirt. It's almost done. The announcement has to be done, that's all. The club will do it," Ilicali said.

"So many clubs wanted him and he chose us. It's because of the way we are playing the game. Liam Rosenior has a big effect on that, playing nice football.

"He wants to go to a place where he will enjoy football. Hull is the best place for him to improve his talents. We are a fantastic club with fantastic players and a fantastic coach. Everything is so good here."

Fabio Carvalho in action for Liverpool in August 2022 © Reuters

Carvalho memorably opened his Premier League account for Fulham towards the end of the 2020-21 season, netting in a 3-1 loss to Southampton for the already-relegated Cottagers, who bounced straight back up to the top flight thanks to the attacker's efforts.

Carvalho registered 10 goals and eight assists in 36 Championship games for Marco Silva's side during the 2021-22 campaign and subsequently left for Liverpool for an initial £5m, which could rise to £7.7m with add-ons.

During his first few weeks at Anfield, the Portugal Under-21 international made waves with goals in back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Newcastle United, netting an injury-time winner against the latter and also scoring in an EFL Cup loss to Manchester City.

However, Klopp seldom selected Carvalho in the second half of the campaign, and he earned a total of three starts during his ill-fated Leipzig spell, playing just 158 minutes of Bundesliga football.