We’ve already seen how crucial Marco Silva has been to both Fulham’s summer rebuild and their scintillating start to the new season. Several new signings, the latest being Watford pairing Nathaniel Chalobah and Domingos Quina, spoke of the importance of the Portuguese head coach in persuading them to come to Craven Cottage. Rodrigo Muniz has also told of how the new Fulham boss proved pivotal in ensuring he headed to London rather than other potential destinations. But, as details emerge of a new of frustrations in the final hours of the transfer window, Silva was unable to sell a move to William Carvalho, who the Whites made a concerted effort to try and sign last month.

Today’s issue of ABC Sevilla carries a detailed report on Fulham’s attempts to bring Carvalho, a Portuguese international, to the Championship. Real Betis were very keen to offload the 29 year-old so as to finance new signings before the close of the transfer window and Fulham reportedly ‘went the furthest’ of Carvalho’s potential suitors, agreeing an initial loan with an obligation to buy if they went straight back to the Premier League.

But Carvalho ‘refused to go’ to Fulham and not even a Silva intervention could persuade him otherwise. The player’s intransigence greatly frustrated Betis, who had to pull out of a proposed deal for Dani Ceballos and the paper suggests that there could be consequences for the midfielder:

“They were hours of some tension and the situation between William Carvalho and the club may be affected after these refusals.”