Arsenal and Fulham have joined Liverpool in the race for Andre Trindade with the Premier League trio all scouting the £30 million-rated midfielder in Fluminense’s Copa Libertadores triumph over Boca Juniors this weekend.
Andre Trindade turned down a £26 million move to Liverpool over the summer, reluctant to leave Fluminense in the lurch in the middle of the Brazilian season.
And, as he lifted the Copa Libertadores trophy into the night sky a few months later – La Flu crowned champions of South America for the very first time – Andre’s loyalty was repaid with interest.
Should he say a belated farewell in January, as expected, the 21-year-old will walk away with a piece in Fluminense folklore to call his own.
Arsenal join Liverpool in Andre Trindade race
Liverpool, meanwhile, remain the favourites to secure Andre’s signature. But a move to Anfield is far from a foregone conclusion.
Globo Esporte report that two of Liverpool’s Premier League rivals had scouts in the stands too, Andre the driving force behind a dramatic, frantic 2-1 victory over Argentine giants Boca Juniors. Fulham, who failed with a bid of their own earlier in the year, were in attendance. As were Arsenal.
Vamo Fluminense, meanwhile, throw Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United into the frame.
Now valued at £30 million, Andre’s ball-winning ability and his poise in possession could come in very handy in an Arsenal midfield missing the intensity and the aggression of Granit Xhaka and the injured Thomas Partey. Fielding Kai Havertz and Jorginho in Saturday’s insipid 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United, a once-rock solid Arsenal midfield feels a damn sight more lightweight than before, despite the best efforts of the ever-rambunctious Declan Rice.
Arsenal may have a lot of ground to make up on Liverpool, however. Jurgen Klopp’s side have watched Andre for 18 months, and have been in talks with Fluminense since the summer.
‘Liverpool contacted me’
“In the case of Liverpool, I go even further,” Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt explains. “Liverpool’s Chief Executive contacted me directly. And I replied to him; ‘My friend, I don’t sell players now, and I don’t deliver now.
“’If you want to buy now and take (Andre) in January, we can start talking. Or, if you want to wait until December, we’ll talk in December’.”
December is rapidly approaching. And so is decision time for Andre Trindade.
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