Farewell Brazil: Liverpool could finally sign €40M midfielder uncontested
Fulham’s pursuit of Brazilian midfielder Andre Trindade is reportedly over which could open the door for Liverpool to sign him this month after pursuing him for the first half of the 2023/24 season.
Despite showing strong interest, the Reds appeared to walk away from a deal with Fluminense after having bids rejected in the summer due to the Brazilian club’s ongoing season.
It was a decision that paid off as they won the Copa Libertadores for the first time before reaching the final of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Andre was instrumental with his tackling, pass prevention and brave dribbling paving the way for Fluminense to beat Sao Paulo in the final of the Copa Libertadores.
Fulham drop out of race to sign Andre
Despite Fulham appearing to have the strongest chance of signing the 22-year-old in the January transfer window, journalist Jacque Talbot reports that “Fulham’s pursuit of Andre Trindade is over.”
He adds that it may mean that Joao Palhinha will now not leave the club after a failed summer move to Bayern Munich meant he has remained in the Premier League this season.
Also a target of Liverpool’s, the Portuguese midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to Anfield although his age and price tag may be obstacles the Merseysiders are unwilling to clear.
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Liverpool are to hold talks with Kylian Mbappe over a move to the Premier League, following the Frenchman’s camp denying that he has made any kind of decision over his future right now.
The Reds have a longstanding interest in the Paris Saint-Germain superstar, with Mbappe’s own mother said to be a big Liverpool fan. Despite Real Madrid being firmly in the driving seat to sign the superstar when he leaves PSG this summer as a free agent, however, a move to England could well materialise, with Mbappe communicating that he is yet to decide just yet.
“There’s NO agreement on Kylian[‘s] future,” according to Mbappe’s camp via Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, throwing cold water on the rumours that he has committed to moving to Madrid this summer. “No type of influence could dictate the timing of Kylian’s discussions, reflections [and] decisions”.
Now, French outlet Le10Sport have claimed that Mbappe “will hold talks” with the Reds over a move, in order to sound out his available options.
Liverpool have a stacked frontline at current, with AFCON-bound Mohamed Salah the undisputed superstar of the pack. Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez are also available to Jurgen Klopp.
But with Salah rumoured to be a long-term target of the Saudi Pro League, the Reds may choose to cash in on the Egyptian King, now in his 30s, if it means that they could finance a move for Mbappe. Though there would be fee due to PSG, there would be a significant outlay needed in terms of salary and sign-on fee.
While this move might seem possible, however, Spanish football expert Dermot Corrigan told The Athletic Football Podcast recently that Real Madrid remains the most likely option for Mbappe. It may have to take a huge change of heart to sway the Frenchman from signing for Real or remaining in Ligue.
The 25-year-old is valued by Transfermarkt at €180 million.
Andre is free to leave Fluminense this month after reaching a “verbal agreement” with the club. They will not stand in his way if offers are made that match their valuation.
Liverpool well-placed to sign Andre uncontested
Fluminense want up to €40 million (£35M) to sell in the January transfer window.
Having seemingly bid farewell to Brazil and Fluminense ahead of a European adventure, Liverpool are well-placed to sign the diminutive midfielder uncontested.
Liverpool are without a defensive midfielder at the moment especially with Wataru Endo representing Japan at the Asian Cup this month.
Jurgen Klopp could be without the 30-year-old until 13th February. The former Stuttgart will be 31 in Feb and so Liverpool are still looking for a new no.6 following Fabinho’s move to Al-Ittihad in the summer.
Signing Andre would plug an important hole in the side although the club may choose to delay their search until the summer when more experienced targets will be more available.
Clubs are loathe to let key players go mid-season and with top defensive midfielders hard to come by, the market for one in January is pretty scant.
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Club owner confirms Liverpool ‘agreement’ as what Jürgen Klopp ace needs next is clear
Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool decided to recall Fábio Carvalho from his loan spell with RB Leipzig but his next move is edging closer. A club owner has confirmed a deal.
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It hasn’t been an easy 18 months for Fábio Carvalho. Since joining Liverpool, game time has been hard to come by, but Hull City could be about to offer some light at the end of the tunnel.
Liverpool made a move for Carvalho in January 2022. The excitement was palpable and it was a very natural move for the Reds to make. This was the best young player in the Championship — one of the best players in the division of any age — who was available for a cut-price fee.
Liverpool left it slightly too late to get the deal done in the winter window, but it was agreed for the summer instead. Carvalho would have gone back to Fulham on loan for the rest of that season anyway, so whether it was made permanent in January or May made no difference to the practicalities of the switch.
In his debut campaign at Anfield, there were moments in which Carvalho made a good impression, but it was a tough season to come into a changing team that was struggling. The Portugal playmaker was unable to get regular minutes and he played the equivalent of less than four full Premier League matches in total.
With top-class midfield reinforcements arriving last summer with the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, the competition for places was only going to get more difficult to overcome. That meant a loan exit made sense, with Liverpool having no appetite to lose him permanently.
Several clubs took an interest but it was RB Leipzig that convinced Carvalho and Liverpool that it was the best location for his development to continue, and that seemed feasible. Just before the turn of the year, though, he was recalled by the Reds because in his stint in Germany, the 21-year-old had only made one Bundesliga start. Seven times in the German top flight, he didn’t even come off the bench.
The competition for a spot in the team under Marco Rose had proven more difficult than first thought, even with Liverpool buying Szoboszlai from Leipzig, and Carvalho was simply not getting the minutes he needs. The Reds will hope that problem has now been solved.
As reported by Yağız Sabuncuoğlu on X/Twitter, Hull owner Acun Ilicali has confirmed that a deal has been reached with Liverpool. “We have reached an agreement with Liverpool for the transfer of Fábio Carvalho,” he is quoted as saying (with the help of translation from Sport Witness).
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“We have added another excellent name to our squad that will take us to our goals. The transfer process was very difficult, but Carvalho, who had more than 15 offers, chose Hull. We are very happy. We’ve done a great job.”
Leipzig was keen to convince Liverpool to let it keep Carvalho for the remainder of the season, but it didn’t make much sense for the Reds or the player for that to be the case. Carvalho wasn’t getting any more game time in Germany than he would have done had he stayed on Merseyside.
With the competition for places long-term at Anfield more likely to further increase than get lower, that made the January decision for Liverpool a simple one. Carvalho needed to be brought back and now needs to be somewhere that can guarantee a starting place. Having already seen Tyler Morton thrive at Hull, the Championship club could be the perfect home for him over the next few months.
Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp might have already argued that signing a defender in the winter market could prove tricky because the right addition may not be available. But in the case of Carvalho, things are much more cut and dry: it is the easiest decision that the Reds could have made this winter. Now, he needs to play.
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