What the hell happened to Fabio Carvalho? Liverpool's former Fulham wonderkid on highway to Hull after dismal RB Leipzig loan spell

The versatile forward had opened his Reds account just four days before his heroics against Newcastle, in a 9-0 rout of Bournemouth, and even Klopp was taken aback at how little time Carvalho had taken to make an impact at Anfield.

He had been held in the highest esteem for quite a while, of course. Liverpool had actually agreed a fee to sign him midway through the 2021-22 season, while he was playing a pivotal role in Fulham's Premier League promotion push, excelling in the No.10 role behind Aleksandar Mitrovic. But the transfer was postponed until the summer, much to the delight of the Cottagers. Carvalho ended up contributing 10 goals and eight assists as Fulham secured a return to the top flight.

"Fabio is a great talent and we did everything we could trying to secure him here on a longer deal so he could play in the Premier League with Fulham," club owner Tony Khan explained at the time. "That didn't prove possible, but we were able to keep him for the remainder of the Championship-winning campaign, and for that I know he will always be very fondly remembered by our fans."

He quickly endeared himself to his new club's supporters, too, and Klopp could understand why. “What a talent he is, eh? A player who can bring a stadium to its feet," he told the club's official website. "He puts his personality into his performances, he is confident and adventurous with the ball, and he wants to make things happen. He is a versatile player for sure and is very much an attacking threat with his creativity and dynamism.

"It doesn't really need saying, but it is worth reminding everyone that he will of course need patience. It's a step up, but one we know he is more than capable of making, which is why we were so keen for so long to sign him."

The potential £7.7 million ($9.8m) fee looked like an absolute steal, too, even accounting for the clause in his contract that entitled Fulham to a 20 percent cut of any future transfer.

However, while Carvalho featured in 11 of Liverpool's first 14 Premier League games, he saw only eight minutes of action during the second half of the season. When Liverpool played Newcastle again, in the middle of February, Carvalho didn't even make the matchday squad.

"Fabio is a very young player, big talent, absolutely, played well for us in a couple of games, but he hasn't played too often because, from my point of view, we have needed different skills," Klopp explained ahead of the trip to St. James' Park. "That's pretty much all, he did nothing wrong, he improved a lot, he developed a lot, he's a good kid.

"Obviously [he's] not in a happy place at the moment - I cannot see that in the pitch, or when I see him, it's not really obvious, but I can imagine because he's a footballer [and] he wants to play but isn't playing enough. But that's another thing in a long career [that] you have to go through. For me, it looks like he's [accepting the situation] as well as possible."

Klopp even claimed that he'd never seen a player deal so maturely with such a frustrating lack of game time, saying in May: "The thing is, this was not Fabio's best year of his very young career, clearly, but it might have been his most important. No player has impressed me more than Fabio, that's the truth."

Howevever, Klopp was also honest enough to admit that Carvalho could not afford to spend another one of his formative years sitting on the bench at Anfield. A loan move was imperative for the sake of his development and the objective was to find him a team that could not only offer him game time - but game time at the very highest level.

RB Leipzig looked "the perfect fit", as Carvalho put it himself. These days, few clubs in world football have a better reputation for nurturing young talent, while coach Marco Rose had previously played under Klopp and Carvalho could see tactical similarities between their two teams.

"My first impression of Marco has been really positive," he told Leipzig's official website. "He's a great coach and a really nice person. He is helping me to get used to the new system. Although Liverpool and RB Leipzig play similar styles of football, they use different formations. We played with a 4-1-2-3 at Liverpool, compared to a 4-2-2-2 here. Both teams look to get forward quickly and put the opposition under pressure with their pressing. I'm confident that I'll quickly learn everything I need here."

However, despite making an excellent early impression by scoring in his first pre-season friendly, it quickly became clear that Carvalho and Rose were not on the same page, with the player admitting that he "didn't understand" what was being asked of him.

It also didn't help that fellow summer arrival Xavi Simons hit the ground running, quickly establishing himself as the best option on the left-hand side of the attack in the absence of the injured Dani Olmo. With Leipzig playing without a No.10 - Carvalho's preferred position - opportunities to play were at a premium.

Rose encouraged him to "stick with it". "He's a good lad and a good footballer," the coach said. "You can see that he's got quality. But he's got some strong players playing in his position. He's at their level, but he's got to stay at their level. If he does that, then he'll definitely get chances to prove himself."

However, when the Bundesliga broke for the winter, Carvalho had featured in just 15 games in all competitions, starting only three, and failed to register a single goal or assist. Liverpool were left with no option but to bring a premature end to his loan spell.

The question now, of course, is whether Carvalho still has a future at Anfield, given he's poised to join Hull City at a time when Liverpool are short on numbers and fighting on four fronts.

A move to the MKM Stadium certainly makes some sense. Another Liverpool loanee, Tyler Morton, is flourishing at Hull under the guidance of Liam Rosenior, with whom Carvalho has already held encouragingly constructive talks. A return to the Championship may well bring the best out of him, given it's the only level at which he's consistently delivered to date. Then there's the fact that he has three-and-a-half years to run on his Liverpool contract. There is still time for him to prove his worth to Klopp.

However, Carvalho is an undeniably curious case, in that Liverpool fought so hard to sign him and yet there appears no obvious room for him in the starting line-up. The Reds do not play with an orthodox No.10 or support striker, while Carvalho still looks too limited and too lightweight to trouble full-backs on the left flank.

Of course, a spell in the Championship with Blackburn Rovers benefited Elliot enormously; maybe six months at Hull will prove just as crucial to Carvalho's career. He may not have done much wrong since that joyous night at Anfield 18 months ago, but not much has gone right for him either. Here's hoping Hull proves Carvalho's happy place.