He’s a bit like Jan Molby, Liverpool’s Dane.
Defensive midfielder,very skilful, exceptional passer, main man at Sporting.
Often plays too deep, in my view, and that’s partly tactical.
But mainly, I think, the Sporting Lisbon defenders know Carvalho is their the best passer and keep giving him square balls in unpromising positions.
That means he’s pinned in the rear third too much.
That’s my impression from Champions League highlights I’ve seen this season.
You probably know that Carvalho was voted Player of the Tournament in the recent Euro Under-21s in the Czech Republic.
Portugal lost in the final two weeks ago.
Carvalho played against England (1-0) and Italy (0-0) and Sweden (1-1) and Germany (5-0) and Sweden again (0-0).
23 last month, he had his penalty saved in the shoot-out, so the Swedes became European Champions.
He played 47 games for Sporting and Portugal last season.
He’s six foot one and a half and also has 13 senior caps.
Carvalho is what Arsenal have needed for years, a powerful playmaker.
If it really looks like Wenger’s going to sign Carvalho, I’ll write about how he’ll fit into Arsenal’s current style of play.
# Jan Molby won league titles with Liverpool in 1986,1988 and 1990.