Leicester City will fail to sign Liverpool attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho as the Portuguese talent joins Championship rivals Hull.
City were one of a number of Premier League and League Two clubs mentioned as interested in the 21-year-old, who returned to Liverpool this month after a six-month loan spell at RB Leipzig. However, it appears he will be moving to Humberside, which is a major turnaround for the Tigers.
With Wilfred Ndidi injured for three months and City also short of wing-backs, a player like Carvalho, who can play in midfield and out wide, would be perfect for their promotion.
Especially as he has already won the Championship, contributing 18 goals and 18 assists in 36 games for Fulham when they won the League Two title in 2022.
The Cottagers were among the clubs reportedly interested in loaning Carvalho for the second half of the season, along with Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Leeds. However, he will join Hull.
The Tigers, who are one of three teams to beat City this season, are currently in seventh place and are just a point away from the play-offs. If they bring Carvalho in, they will be in a strong contention for promotion in the second half of the season.
Their owner Acun Ilicali told HullLive: “We are in a fight with some very big clubs, but we are Hull City. We are also very excited. He is a very unique player and we really want to see him at Hull City but, as with any major transfer, we have some big rivals for his signature, from big Premier League clubs and a number of Championship clubs.
“We are doing everything we can for Fabio. I think we are trying to give our fans the good news and we will show everyone what an ambitious club we are.”
The loss of Carvalho is a blow for City, but the club has bigger worries this month as it doubts whether he will be able to sign any contract at all. Enzo Maresca said the club needs to sell players if it wants to bring in any players this month.