Explained: Why Liverpool rejected Southampton's bid for Fabio Carvalho with winger desperate for playing time

Carvalho, who joined the Reds from Fulham in 2022, spent the last season on two different loan spells at RB Leipzig and Hull City. He moved to the Bundesliga on a season-long loan deal during the summer of 2023 but it was cut short after just six months as he returned to Liverpool in January only to move out on another loan deal to Hull City.

The youngster, however, is now back at Liverpool and has travelled with the squad for their pre-season tour in the United States. The Athletic now reports that newly promoted Southampton had approached the Merseyside giants with a bid worth £15m (€17m) for the 21-year-old but they rejected the offer. New manager Arne Slot has been left impressed by the consistent performances of the Portuguese attacker who has scored in back-to-back matches against Arsenal and Manchester United.

The English giants are not considering sending out Carvalho on yet another loan move and would be willing to sell him permanently only if they receive an offer much higher than what the Saints are offering at the moment.

After a successful pre-season tour in the US, Slot's men will now face Sevilla in their final friendly match on August 11 at Anfield before kicking off the new season six days later against Ipswich Town.