Fabio Carvalho might have spent the last season out on loan after a disappointing first year at Liverpool, but he has no intention of calling time on his Reds career this summer.

The Portuguese moved to Anfield from Fulham in a deal worth up to £7.7m but was starved of football during the second half of a miserable 2022/23 campaign for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Limited to just eight starts, Carvalho joined RB Leipzig on loan last summer before moving to Hull City in January after finding his opportunities limited in Germany. Boasting nine goals in 19 games for the Tigers, he is now back playing with a smile on his face again.

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Speculation about his future beyond the end of the season remains rife, with recent reports suggesting he is attracting interest ahead of a summer of change at Anfield as Klopp prepares to depart after nine years as manager.

But with Feyenoord boss Arne Slot closing in on being named as the German’s successor, Carvalho is determined to impress the next Liverpool manager in pre-season as he prepares to fight for his future at the club.

“Yeah, that’s the target,” he exclusively told the ECHO when asked if he’ll be with the Reds for pre-season. “The way I see it, it’s a fresh start. Not just for me, but obviously whoever comes in.

“It’ll be a fresh start for me, and for the likes of Tyler (Morton - fellow Liverpool loanee at Hull City) as well. We’ve just got to take the chances that come. Really grasp it and take it with both hands.

“Yeah, Tyler and I have spoken (about about the summer). Especially after the news came out about Jurgen. We just spoke about what could potentially change at the club.

“Ultimately, it’s a fresh start for both of us. We’ll just go back there with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“Obviously I want to break into the Liverpool first-team squad, into the starting XI as well. For now, I’m focused on Hull City and getting promoted. I’m going to see how pre-season turns out and then we’ll make a decision (on my future) after that.”

Speaking to the ECHO prior to the Reds’ move for Slot, Carvalho admitted he was aware of the ongoing speculation regarding Klopp’s would-be successor. But while such an individual could play a decisive role in his own Liverpool future, the youngster also admitted he wasn’t paying much attention to such talk.

“I’ve heard a few things but I’m just focused on myself and focused what I’m doing right now,” he said. “I’m trying to stay away from the social media and all that, which doesn’t really add anything to my life.

“Whoever comes in, I’m sure that whoever is appointed, the fans will have their back and I’m sure that the owners and the higher-ups won’t make a decision where it’s going to backfire, I’m sure they will make the right decision.”

Carvalho was as taken aback as the rest of the footballing world when Klopp announced his decision to step down as Liverpool manager back in January. Morton broke the news to the forward, who is yet to speak to his departing boss about his decision to leave the club.

“Same way you did I think!” he laughed when asked how he found out. “Just on the internet. I remember it was right before training.

“I was getting ready to go out and then Tyler was like, ‘Fabio, have you seen what’s happened?’ I was like, ‘nah’, and he showed me on his phone.

“And then I went on my phone, I had a few messages from people who I know and who are close to me. They all just said the same thing.

“I’ve not spoken to him (Klopp). Because I know he’s got a lot of stuff to focus on! But I will speak to him eventually.

“He had the League Cup final, which we won. He’s got a lot of stuff going on and I’ll just leave him until the end (of the season). Eventually I’ll speak to him.

“I wasn’t even onto Harvey (Elliott - having come through the ranks at Fulham together before linking up at Liverpool). We don’t really speak about it. I just want him to focus because it was during a period where they had a few games. We had a few games ourselves and we need to focus on our own careers. But I’m sure we will catch up on it.”

Liverpool’s campaign has ultimately petered out since the March international break, with the Reds still chasing a quadruple less than eight weeks ago. But after seeing his parent club struggle last season during his first year at the club, Carvalho has been impressed by their improved efforts this time around.

The highlight of the club’s campaign is inevitably their League Cup final win over Chelsea back in February, where a youthful side, littered with Academy starlets, overcame a crippling injury-crisis to defeat the Londoners at Wembley.

And while Liverpool have perhaps since run out of steam, suffering the after-effects from a lengthy, prolonged list of absentees, Carvalho has been proud of his younger team-mates' efforts back at Anfield.

“It’s just been amazing what they’ve been doing really,” he said. “They had a lot of injuries, but I’m happy and I’m proud of the younger players who have stepped up and have done great things for the club.

“Seeing the academy players coming through, and a lot of them on the pitch when Virgil scored the goal, all of them celebrating together, it’s what football is about to be fair. You’ve got the experienced players and the new, fresh blood celebrating together and celebrating the title.

“They’re a credit to themselves, and it’s a credit to the coaches and the senior players already at the club who have taken them under their wings - the same as they did with me last year.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of people have been surprised by how they’ve done this season. Obviously they’ve got new signings, and off the back-end of last season.

“It’s a fresh start, fresh faces. With the ageing squad we had before, I still think we had a great squad and a squad that could have done so much better than what we did. Obviously that’s football. Liverpool are where they are now for a reason.”

Given his lack of game-time last season, it’s not lost on Carvalho how different his fortunes might have been with the Reds this year had he not been out on loan. But while his Liverpool career to date has been something of a rollercoaster, he has no regrets as he looks ahead to the future.

“Maybe if I was there, I would have been playing,” he admitted when reflecting on the Reds’ injury woes. “But I’m playing here (at Hull City) and that’s all that matters.

“There’s been a few highs, but a few lows as well (at Liverpool). It’s been a learning curve. It’s all about learning, it’s all about improving.

“We’ve got the players I can learn from, the facilities, the coaches. I’m just excited for the future. It’s not been great (so far), but in a way, that’s a good thing, depending on how you look at it. It can only get better.”

Having shone at Fulham as a number 10 prior to his move to Liverpool, Carvalho has been liberated by being free to play the same position at Hull City. He admits it is where he plays his best football.

With the Reds not making use of such a player under Klopp, who has stuck to his trusted 4-3-3 formation, it is perhaps no surprise that the 21-year-old’s first season at Anfield was not plain sailing.

“I prefer playing as a 10. Playing out wide, I can do a job there but it’s not my natural position,” Carvalho admitted. “I’m not like Lucho Diaz. I can play there but I’m more of a number 10.

“That’s where I like playing, that’s where I enjoy playing. That’s kind of where I’m playing here (at Hull City). I get a lot of freedom to drop in, to do what is expected of me and what I like doing.

“I get that freedom from the manager. That’s what I want and that’s all I need, which is the trust. Because if you don’t have the trust, you don’t play with confidence. If you don’t have confidence, it’s nothing.”

A fresh start under a new manager also presents the opportunity of a new system at Liverpool. So could Carvalho become a chief benefactor of such a change as a result, and be unleashed in his favoured position upon his return?

“You never know,” he laughs. “We’ll see!”