This international break, Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho made his debut for Portugal’s U21s, having featured in the matches against Iceland and Greece.
That meant a lot for the national team, who now feel like they’ve won a battle against England to hold the young midfielder.
As newspaper O Jogo writes about the situation today, they claim that the relationship between Portugal U21s manager Rui Jorge and Fulham boss Marco Silva made all this process easier.
The national team coach, who didn’t know Carvalho still couldn’t play for England’s U21s as he doesn’t have a British passport yet, contacted the Cottagers’ manager to know about the player’s wish.
According to O Jogo, the midfielder’s response ‘was quick’, with the 19-year-old saying “I want to play for Portugal”, which then led to him being called up.
It’s pointed out that Gareth Southgate recently admitted that they’d like to count on Carvalho.However, since the Fulham player did not go through the process to get the passport and chose to play for Portugal’s U21, he ‘admitted defeat’.
The youngster left Benfica to join English football still in 2013, and has been living in the country since then, having joined Fulham in 2015.
Despite those many years in London, he seems happy to start his international career for Portugal, for whom he scored a goal and picked up an assist in that last game against Greece.
