Fabio Carvalho has already been given a big hint at his chances under Arne Slot

Fabio Carvalho is set to return to Liverpool for pre-season this summer with a chance to impress Arne Slot, and previous transfer interest suggests he will.

Carvalho is currently enjoying time off after a difficult campaign that took in loan spells with RB Leipzig and Hull, only settling upon switching to the latter.

That move to the Championship in January allowed the 21-year-old to show his quality again, with nine goals and two assists in 20 appearances, and he is now hoping to impose himself at Liverpool.

He will look to do so under a new head coach, with Slot taking over from Jurgen Klopp, whose own management of Carvalho suggested he had lost faith.

The attacking midfielder will be one of the first to report back to the AXA Training Centre in July, and can aim to catch Slot’s eye early on.

That could be aided by the knowledge that Slot’s former club, Feyenoord, had looked to sign Carvalho while he was still in charge.

It is unclear whether that was while he was at Fulham or when Liverpool were planning to send him on loan, but The Athletic‘s Andy Jones writes that “[it] suggests he is a player the Dutchman likes.”

Slot did not lead transfer strategy at Feyenoord, where he also held the role of head coach, but he will have been consulted on potential signings.

Earmarking Carvalho as a target, then, would indicate that the 45-year-old could see a place for him in his side in Rotterdam.

That could certainly translate to his new Liverpool squad, particularly if he implements his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation which, unlike Klopp’s 4-3-3, is built around a No. 10.

Upon joining Leipzig on loan last summer, Carvalho claimed that the lack of a specialist No. 10 in Klopp’s system was “why it didn’t work out” for him.

“I was told that I would play as a No. 10, but we didn’t really play with a No. 10 last year,” he explained in a press conference.

“When we play with a No. 10, then I can get on my prominent side, and I am able to turn.”

Carvalho repeated this in a recent interview with the Liverpool Echo, saying: “I prefer playing as a 10. Playing out wide, I can do a job there but it’s not my natural position.

“I’m not like Lucho Diaz. I can play there but I’m more of a No. 10. That’s where I like playing, that’s where I enjoy playing.”