Fabio Carvalho has been described as the “perfect number 10” by his new manager at Hull City, and Liam Rosenior explained his plan for the Liverpool loanee.
Carvalho has joined Hull on loan for the remainder of the season, having seen his time at RB Leipzig cut short due to a lack of playing time.
Although the move from the Bundesliga to the Championship will be considered a step back for the Portuguese, it offers him the opportunity to make up for lost time in his development.
Carvalho, who joins another Liverpool loanee, Tyler Morton, is expected to follow him and take on a key role in Rosenior’s ambitious team.
Speaking about the 21-year-old’s arrival at the MKM Stadium, Rosenior hailed him as the “perfect No. 10”, revealing his place in Hull’s 4-2-3-1 formation.
The sixth Portuguese player to represent us! ??
? Watch Fábio Carvalho’s first interview as a City player in full on Tigers+!#hcafc
— Hull City (@HullCity) January 10, 2024
“It brings a level of quality and consistency,” he told the Yorkshire Post.
“His game intelligence is outstanding and, added to his technical ability, his ability to see passes and finish actions, he is selfless, he likes to link up with the players, that’s what makes a perfect number 10 for me as a coach.”
Carvalho joins amid the current absence of key forwards Jaden Philogene and Liam Delap, and looks likely to replace Ozan Tufan in the central attacking midfield role.
Following his move to Leipzig in the summer, there were rumors of a fracture in the relationship between Carvalho and Jurgen Klopp, along with frustration over his position.
“They told me I would play as a number 10, but we didn’t really play with a number 10 last year,” Carvalho told reporters in Germany in July.
However, the youngster later clarified the claim that he “doesn’t really talk” to Klopp as a “misunderstanding”, and Rosenior now delivers a glowing verdict on Carvalho’s character.
“I want to connect emotionally with my players,” the Hull manager continued.
“If they are on the team, outside the team, I care about them, and I think Fabio felt that way about me.
“He knows I will do everything I can to develop him during the four months we are together so that he plays at the best level possible.”
Rosenior added: “When I met him I thought, ‘I’ll do everything I can to get him to come here.’
“I sat with Fabio for hours and we were analyzing our statistics as a team, the way we play, our shape, our structure and where it fits and what needs to improve to take it to the level it wants to reach. “
Carvalho has been registered in time to take part in Hull’s clash against Norwich in the Championship on Friday night, although he has not started a match since December 13, it remains to be seen how prominently he will feature.
But the comments from their new manager will be music to the ears of those at Liverpool.
