Fabio Carvalho‘s ambition has come into question after the end of his loan at RB Leipzig, with their sporting director claiming he “didn’t want to face competition.”
With Carvalho now at Hull City in the Championship, his failure in the Bundesliga has come under scrutiny.
There were high hopes for the Portuguese upon joining Leipzig, but soon after his arrival, the opportunity presented himself for Xavi Simons to join him from Paris Saint-Germain.
Simons, who is also on loan, scored six goals and laid on nine assists in 25 games in the first half of the season, while Carvalho was restricted to just 360 minutes across 15 appearances.
And speaking ahead of Leipzig’s return to competitive action against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, sporting director Rouven Schroder has explained the decision to cancel his loan.
Speaking to journalists including RB Live, Schroder claimed Carvalho “didn’t want to face the competition.”
“We consciously chose Fabio last summer,” he explained.
“He had a great season with Fulham in the English second division, which is very physical. We said to ourselves: great talent, good age, has already gained his experience.
“Still, you only get to know a player as an end product when he’s there.
“Fabio has a great character. But he realised: ‘OK, there’s a competitor here, I have to do more!’. And we noticed that he didn’t want to face the competition.”
Initially, Leipzig seemed reluctant to agree to an early termination of Carvalho’s loan, with Schroder himself insisting that “he will get his playing time.”
“We want the kid to scratch and bite,” he added.
But their stance clearly changed amid talks with both Carvalho and Liverpool, and if Schroder is to be believed, that may be due to the midfielder being unwilling to “scratch and bite” for a place.
“We asked ourselves the question: do we feel more comfortable with another man or are we clear and straight and say ‘listen, if you don’t want to go with us, then we’ll end the loan’?” he continued on Friday.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to have a break-off.”
It is not the first time Carvalho’s attitude has been scrutinised, with his decision to turn down a Portugal U21s call-up via text irking coach Rui Jorge in 2022.
Hull City manager Liam Rosenior has lauded the 21-year-old’s character, though, and the hope will be that rings true in the second half of the season.
