In his latest press conference, the first questions put to Marco Silva were about Fabio Carvalho.
News stories suggested the youngster could have been on his way out of Fulham on transfer deadline day, but no such move came to pass.
“On the final day, the timings and the really important details are always complicated for everyone,” Silva explained. “What I can say is that Fabio is really happy.
“The day after that situation I saw him with the same smile on his face, like always. He came into the [training] session to enjoy it and work hard, and this is the main thing for me.”
When asked if it means Carvalho will leave in the summer at the end of his contract, Silva replied: “I’m not 100 per cent sure, to be honest.
“Even if I’m an optimistic person, I would not say that we have things under control because that would be lying to you. But, of course, it’s not 100 per cent sure that the player will leave.
“It’s a scenario that will be possible, but the only thing that I said to [the media] was that Fabio would be with us until the end of the season.
“I said it last week, I said it 15 days ago, and in that moment I was 100 per cent sure that would happen because it was our decision, it was something that I could control and the Club could control as well.
“And when I said to you I was 100 per cent sure Fabio would be with us until the end of the season, coming to us could have been many, many offers, but we had made the decision and we were 100 per cent sure.
“And this is the reality now – he will be with us until the end of the season, he is really happy with us, and the main thing for me is that we will try more and more and more to renew with him.
“I’m sure that I will keep getting the best from him, I’m 100 per cent sure that Fabio will definitely give his best for the Club, like he has been doing so far.
“If we as a football club can do something to try to change the scenario, it will be perfect, but it’s something I can’t control.”
The main business that did get done on Monday night involved right-backs, with long-term servant Denis Odoi returning to Belgium with Club Brugge.
Leaving us light in that area, the Club moved to bring in highly-rated Wales international Neco Williams on loan.
“It was a decision we made on the last day really,” Silva revealed. “It was something with Denis Odoi that we didn’t expect.
“When I prepared for the last days of the market with the board, with Alistair [Mackintosh], we expected quiet last days of the market, except for the Fabio situation because you never know in football what could happen.
“You have to be ready for everything, and we were. The Denis Odoi situation wasn’t expected, but the player was really keen to go back to his country, to enjoy a new challenge.
“It was a very good offer for him, a player who was a big servant for our football club, he was a fantastic professional.
“Until the last moment we tried to block the situation, but we have to understand the player’s position, they offered him a long-term contract when he’s [nearly] 34-years-old, so there’s all these situations.
“And in that moment we reacted as a football club, we had everything prepared behind the scenes, we had our work done.
“That solution for Denis meant we had to find a solution for ourselves. We did this deal with Liverpool, and we think that Neco will really help us with his quality, with his behaviour, and he will be another player to add something to our squad.”
