Jurgen Klopp has praised Fabio Carvalho’s “exceptional” attitude in a run of three months without a start for Liverpool, admitting he is “not happy”. Carvalho was a regular in the squad in the first half of the season, scoring in back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Newcastle in August. However, since the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on October 22, he has not started a Premier League game and has only started three games in all competitions, all of which were in domestic cups. His latest start came in victory over Wolves in the FA Cup third-round replay on January 17. Since then, he has only been in the matchday squad for eight of a possible 16 games, coming off the bench twice for a total of three minutes on the pitch in three months. Reports have claimed that Liverpool will allow Carvalho to leave on loan in the summer, or possibly even on a permanent basis, though Klopp gave no indication when discussing his situation on Friday.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the reverse fixture at home to Forest this weekend, the manager admitted his No. 28 was “not happy”. However, Klopp praised his performance and attitude in training, as part of a group of players he is continually left to omit from his squad. He said: “Fabio Carvalho is training exceptionally, to be honest. All the boys [are]. That’s the hardest part. We never had it the whole season, now we have it and all of a sudden I leave five players at home.” The manager named Harvey Elliott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams among those currently on the outside looking in, but Carvalho’s name sticks out in particular. Klopp added: “Fabio, for the situation in which he is now, in training on an absolute super level and not being involved, how he deals with it, I have to say, that’s kind of a role model. Not that he is happy with the situation, but he never gives up. It’s unbelievable. I don’t think it was probably his best skill before he arrived here, because he was this super-super talent – which he still is – but the character he shows here is exceptional.”