Liverpool failed to sort the paperwork by the 11pm deadline and will now have to wait until the summer to rekindle their interest in Fulham starlet Fabio Carvalho.

It had appeared the Reds had thrashed out a deal for the England U21 interntional, with a fee agreed, but the move wasn’t finalsied in time. The EFL does not offer overtime on transfers in the way the Premier League often grants during complex negotiations.

Reliable transfer guru Paul Joyce had claimed that the transfer was all but done – but the Reds still had a lot of work to get the move completed. Carvalho had reportedly agreed personal terms with the Anfield outfit and completed a medical, only for the terms of Fulham’s loan agreement until the end of the current season to scupper the move.

The 19-year-old’s move to Merseyside may now have to wait until the summer, at which time his contract will have run out.

Marco Silva was icy cool in his assurances that Carvalho would remain a Cottager this month – but this was always a transfer likely to go down to the wire.

“Fabio will be with us until the end of the season,” Silva said. “I would like to see him here for more years. From day one I have been trying to keep him. It is not a surprise that clubs are interested in Fabio. We are talking about a young player with big talent.

“The situation is not easy because he is in the last year of his contract, but that is the reality. It is out of our plans for him to leave the club in this window. It has been difficult for us to renew with him, but we are trying.”