Brentford star suffers season-ending injury to wreck January transfer hopes | OneFootball

Bees winger looked set to explore New Year exit, but will now focus on overcoming latest fitness setback

Brentford winger Fabio Carvalho will miss the rest of the season through injury, the club have confirmed.

The Bees announced ahead of their return to Premier League action following the November international break away at Brighton on Saturday that Carvalho is set to undergo knee surgery.

The former Liverpool player has begun his rehabilitation with Brentford after consulting with a specialist having recently suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“We will all be with you every step of the way, Fabio,” the club said in a statement.

Carvalho had already been enduring a difficult season, having started only once in the Premier League for Brentford under new head coach Keith Andrews.

Carvalho had fared better in the Carabao Cup, where he started three consecutive matches for Brentford and helped them through to the quarter-finals - where they will face Manchester City next month - by netting against both high-flying Bournemouth and fourth-tier Grimsby.

Plans dashed: Carvalho had been looking at leaving Brentford in January after playing a peripheral role under Andrews so far

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He had appeared nine times across all competitions this term and 33 times in total since swapping Anfield for the Gtech Community Stadium in the summer of 2024 in a deal worth £27.5million including add-ons.

Last season, Carvalho scored three times and provided as many assists in 24 outings under former Brentford boss Thomas Frank, but saw his campaign curtailed early in February by a persistent shoulder injury that later required surgery.

Carvalho only played 21 times for Liverpool after moving from Fulham in 2022, spending time out on loan in the Championship at Hull and with Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.

Southampton had initially tried to sign the 23-year-old before his eventual switch to Brentford, while he rejected a potential move to French club Lyon in the summer amid rival interest from the likes of Stuttgart and Strasbourg.

Standard Sport reported last month that Carvalho had become frustrated by a lack of regular first-team opportunities at Brentford and was keen to explore either a temporary or permanent exit in the January transfer window, though those plans will now have to be shelved as he focuses on overcoming his latest injury setback.