Fabio Ful of hope onreturn

FABIO CARVALHO is open to a return to Fulham – if Liverpool can recall him from his loan at RB Leipzig.

The Reds have now opened dialogue with the Bundesliga club as they are currently unhappy with his lack of minutes in Germany so far this season.

Leipzig have reaffirmed that the 21-year-old (above) is still part of their plans for the rest of the campaign, even though the deal does not include a permanent transfer clause.

Leipzig sporting director Rouven Schroder is not prepared to entertain talk of ending the loan period.

He said: “These are typical power games that ultimately emerge.”

Liverpool would ideally like to send Carvalho on loan to another club for the second half of the season – where regular playing time is on offer – for the benefit of his development.

Sources close to the player have hinted that the Portuguese playmaker would be open to rejoining former club Fulham and there has already been interest from the Cottagers.

The attacking midfielder came through the ranks in west London and spent seven years with the club, winning the Championship in 2022.

Marco Silva was recently quizzed on potential Fulham interest in Carvalho, a question he dodged ahead of the 4-3 defeat at Anfield earlier this month.

He said: “It’s not for me to talk about it. Liverpool bought him – that’s for Jurgen and Liverpool to talk about.”

Liverpool are still counting on Carvalho for the future and rejected a £10million permanent bid from Leipzig for his services in the summer.

Burnley have also previously shown interest in the player, who is unlikely to be short of options if Liverpool are able to recall him from his Bundesliga loan.

Carvalho completed 90 minutes for Leipzig on Wednesday night for the first time this season as they beat Young Boys 2-1 in the Champions League.