Liverpool dealt blow to January transfer fund as forward's move called off

Liverpool will be praying for the January transfer window to come around.

That’s not a sentence anyone would have expected to write just a few months ago, after the Reds broke the British transfer record twice to bring in world-class talents like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.

But their recruitment hasn’t quite clicked yet, and Arne Slot’s side have already racked up five losses in 11 outings.

Liverpool see potential transfer fund boost blocked by Brentford news

As is the case in football today, spending even more money will likely be seen as the way out of the problem, but having spent so heavily in the summer, the Anfield outfit could really do with boosting their budget.

But sometimes luck simply isn’t on your side, and that certainly seems to be the case with Liverpool.

The Reds had a potential source of revenue coming in this January with Brentford forward Fabio Carvalho likely to have been on the move..

Liverpool sold the 23-year-old to the Bees in the summer of 2024 for a £27.5m package, and included a reported 17.5 per cent sell-on clause as part of the deal.

Reports from journalist Florian Plettenberg at the end of last month revealed that the Portuguese attacker was “definitely” going to leave the Gtech Community Stadium this winter, with a permanent sale being considered.

It looked like being a nice little earner for Liverpool, but any hopes of cashing in further on Carvalho have now been dashed by the player picking up an ACL injury, as confirmed by Brentford, which will rule him out of both playing for the rest of the season, and securing a move away.

The Merseysiders will, of course, wish him well first and foremost, having spent so much time at the club as a young player, but it’s news that may send the incumbent champions back to the drawing board in terms of fundraising.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while this will be frustrating for Liverpool from a financial perspective, it shouldn’t make or break their January window.

And, in any case, Slot may be better served by letting his current new recruits settle, rather than adding more new faces to bed in.

The approach the Reds take this January will be interesting to observe, but they’ll be doing so without any Carvalho windfall.

Carvalho is valued at €14m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool next face Nottingham Forest when Premier League action returns this weekend.