Southampton boss Russell Martin has spoken on their pursuit of Liverpool’s Fabio Carvalho and said he’s a player the Saints like a lot.
Following promotion back to the Premier League last season Southampton have been busy in the market making a number of additions to their squad to give them the best chance of survival.
Among their new signings are striker Ben Brereton Diaz, and midfielders Flynn Downes and Adam Lallana.
Southampton want to sign Carvalho
The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Sunday that Liverpool had rejected an offer from Southampton worth up to £15m for Carvalho and were unwilling to sanction another loan deal for the 21-year-old.
The report adds Carvalho wants to be a regular starter and any permanent offers will need to be higher than what the Saints offered.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Martin addressed Southampton’s pursuit of Carvalho and said he was a player the club like a lot.
“He is a player we have liked for a while. We spoke in January but couldn’t get it done. He is a player I admire and like,” he said.
It’s also thought Southampton are keeping an eye on Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley if they are unable to land the Portuguese.
Carvalho, who joined the Reds from Fulham in 2022 has impressed for Liverpool on their pre-season tour of America and opened the scoring in the 3-0 over Manchester United on Saturday.
He’s provided 29 goal contributions in 56 Championship appearances for both Fulham and Hull, but has only made 21 appearances for the Anfield outfit, in which he’s managed just three goals.
The attacking midfielder has so far failed to nail down a regular starting spot at Anfield and has had loan spells at RB Leipzig and Hull City where he impressed with nine goals and two assists from 20 appearances as Hull narrowly missed out on the play-offs in the last campaign.
