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As Jorge Mendes’s involvement is disclosed, Liverpool’s pursuit of Andre’s transfer has reached a crucial point.

Liverpool are in contact with Fluminense for 22-year-old midfielder Andre Trindade
SoccerhuzBy No Comments4 Mins Read

The early hours of Friday could see plenty of Liverpool fans glued to events nearly 6,000 miles away from Anfield.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, may well be the area of interest for Reds supporters when Fluminense take on Paraguayan side Olimpia in the second leg of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final with the aggregate scored level at 0-0.

Victory for Fluminense will surely end hopes of Liverpool honing in on a late August deal for midfielder Andre, while an exit for the Brazilians could yet reopen the path for negotiations between the two clubs as Jurgen Klopp looks to end an-times turbulent transfer window with a flourish.

Having added Wataru Endo to the deals for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboslzai, midfield remains the area for Liverpool to focus their efforts on as the transfer window enters its final week or so.

Andre has been identified as a target with the Reds understood to have opened up the lines of communications with Fluminense at the beginning of August. The 22-year-old’s form has been impressive enough to see him force his way onto the international scene this calendar year and Andre was part of the Brazil side that was beaten 4-2 by Senegal in June.

By a fair few metrics, he appears poised to take the next step towards European football but what happens in the coming days could be hugely instructive to where and when that switch is eventually made.

Viewed as an integral part of head coach Fernando Deniz’s Flu side, the Brazilian club are hugely reluctant to lose their international midfielder while they still have a chance of lifting the Libertadores, which is the South American equivalent of the Champions League.

Such is Diniz’s faith in Andre that the manager, who is also the current caretaker of Brazil national side, has called up the midfielder for the Selecao’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru next month.

Mario Bittencourt, who is the president of Fluminense, told Andre’s agent Carlos Leite over dinner earlier this year that the club simply would not countenance a sale before 2024, such was the desire to make their quest for the Libertadores a successful one.
“We informed the player and the player’s representatives that we would not sell Andre in the course of 2023,” Bittencourt was quoted as telling Globo earlier this year. “People need to always remember and think that there is the life of the athlete.
“Obviously he has the desire, everyone has, to seek financial independence and play outside Brazil. However, we told the athlete’s representatives that we would not even hear proposals. We don’t want to listen. And here I make a thank you of loyalty to the athlete and to the representatives who every time they were sought gave the answers of the club.”
Those comments, however, predate Liverpool opening up a dialogue and it was interesting to note that reports emerged from Brazil recently claiming renowned ‘super agent’ Jorge Mendes has been instructed to become involved in an effort to clear the path for a lucrative move to Europe for Andre.
Mendes is someone who has regularly worked with Liverpool through his Gestifute agency in recent years through the likes of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and former midfielder Fabinho. The Reds have a long-standing and healthy working partnership with the Portuguese agency, which could yet come into play should Andre interest intensify in the coming days.

Bringing in Andre straight from the Brazilian top flight would represent the breaking of new ground for Klopp at Liverpool having not recruited for a spot in the first-team squad from a league outside of Europe during the German’s eight years on Merseyside.

But with his best years ahead of him, Andre’s profile mean he could become the long-term replacement for current midfield controller Thiago Alcantara, who is now inside the final year of his Anfield contract.

Before then, though, the Reds will have to make a decisive move and it remains to be seen if that happens while Fluminense’s Libertadores dreams remain alive.

 

 

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