Premier League star could play for England after quitting Portugal by text

The Portuguese Football Federation have announced that Liverpool star Fabio Carvalho has declared his decision not to play for the Portugal U21 side by text.

Carvalho has impressed for Liverpool this season, making 11 appearances in the Premier League and scoring twice.

It is the winger's first regular taste of Premier League football, having made only four appearances for Fulham in the 2020/21 season.

But it was the following campaign, in the Championship, where Carvalho made his talents known. He starred for Marco Silva's side, scoring 10 goals and providing eight assists as the Cottagers went up as champions.

Liverpool tried to sign him on deadline day in February, but ran out of time to complete the deal. But they retained their interest, and Carvalho agreed to sign for Jurgen Klopp's side in May.

This month, the 20-year-old was named in Portugal's 55-man preliminary squad for the World Cup, but did not make the final squad.

And now he has ruled himself out of selection for the nation's U21 side.

Portugal confirm Carvalho decision

In a statement on their website, the PFF confirmed Carvalho's decision to 'give up' on representing Portugal at youth level.

They continued: "Fabio Carvalho informed the Portuguese Football Federation, through some SMS messages, that he does not intend to continue representing Portugal at the under-21 level.

"The decision by the player was communicated after the call-up for the preparation games with Czech Republic and Japan was known."

Carvalho has represented Portugal U21 previously, receiving four caps and scoring two goals.

But he also represented England at U16, U17 and U18 level. He is still eligible to play for Gareth Southgate's senior side, as young players who play for nations at youth level are not cap-tied until they represent them at senior level.

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Carvalho was born in Portugal, before moving to England with his family in 2013. He was signed by Fulham in 2015.

In March, Southgate said that he could not be called up by England U21 at that point due to 'passport problems', specifically relating to a passport test he would have to pass to obtain an English passport.

The England boss said (quotes via The Athletic): "With Fabio Carvalho, we like him. We would like him in our under-21s, but he hasn't got an English passport.

"He was able to play in our younger age groups without a passport, but he's got to pass the tests to be able to get the passport, so we couldn't select him for the 21s. We'd like to have done that."