Fluminense midfielder Andre open to January exit amid Liverpool interest

Fluminense midfielder Andre has revealed that he is open to leaving the club in January and has explained why he turned down the chance to depart in the summer amid reported interest from Liverpool.

The Reds allegedly failed with a £25m offer for the 22-year-old in the summer at a time when manager Jurgen Klopp oversaw a major midfield overhaul of his squad.

Fluminense refused to part ways with Andre as they were bidding to progress to the latter stages of Copa Libertadores – South America’s equivalent of the Champions League.

Since then, the Brazilian powerhouses have advanced to the championship game, where they will take on Boca Juniors on Saturday in an attempt to win the competition for the first time ever.

Since then, Andre has talked about why he chose to remain at Fluminense and support the team in their pursuit of Copa Libertadores championship, but the midfielder, who has been linked to Liverpool, has acknowledged that he would be open to moving to Europe in 2024.

Speaking in an interview with CONMEBOL Libertadores, as quoted by The Mirror, ahead of Saturday’s showpiece event, Andre said: “In this past window I didn’t talk about [a transfer exit], the first time I’m going to talk in more depth will be now. It really was an irrefutable proposal from the club that plays in a big league.

“I think every player one day dreams of playing for a big club in Europe, in a big league. But I decided to keep my word because when the January window closed, [Fernando] Diniz (Fluminense manager) arrived and told me that he wanted me here until the end of the year. We didn’t know that a proposal of that amount would arrive and I told him that, regardless of what happened, I would be there until the end of the season.

“It ended up passing and arriving in the middle of the year, we were still in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores. It was a very difficult decision to make.

I think if I had accepted this proposal, I don’t know if I would have felt 100% comfortable because I had already agreed with Diniz.

“He really values his word, his honesty. I know that when we do the right things, good things always happen.

And in January he told me that without a doubt, if I stayed I would gamble and my value would increase.”

Andre joined Fluminense at the age of 12 before making his professional debut for the club in September 2020, and he has since developed into a star player for the Rio de Janeiro-based outfit.

Andre, who mostly plays as a defensive midfielder, has made 160 first-team appearances for Fluminense across all competitions, totaling three assists and four goals.

Throughout the 2023 season, Andre has started 50 of his 52 games and has appeared in every game that led the team to the Copa Libertadores final.

The No. 7 for Fluminense made his debut for Brazil on the international scene in June and received his second appearance earlier this month in a World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela.

It is believed that Liverpool plans to make a winter window bid for Andre, who has a contract with Fluminense that expires in December 2026.

Andre is represented by super-agent Jorge Mendes, who also represents Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota for the Reds.