Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp saw a transfer bid for midfielder Andre rejected during the summer, according to Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt. The Brazilian club chief discussed the Reds’ interest during a recent press conference and left the door ajar for a late January exit, providing interested suitors are prepared to pay the right price.
Andre now has three seasons of regular first-team football under his belt. The Fluminense star, 22, has racked up a staggering 117 appearances at club level over the past two campaigns, playing a starring role in the Brazilian Serie A and his club’s stunning Copa Libertadores win back in November.
Bittencourt claims that Liverpool made a serious attempt to prise him away from Fluminense last year, but the club blocked the deal to maximise their chances of winning South America’s top-tier club competition.
“We had an offer for Andre of [£25.6m] from Liverpool [last summer] and we said ‘no’ because we had determined, in common agreement with the player, that we would not sell the athlete because we wanted to win the Libertadores,” Bittencourt explained.
He added that another concrete transfer approach was received in January, and although he stopped short of naming names, Fulham are believed to have shown a serious interest during talks with the Brazilian outfit in recent weeks.
“We have had a second proposal, from an English club, for a price well below [£25.6m], which we refused, understanding that it was below what Fluminense expects for the player,” Bittencourt continued.
“We are inside the club,” he said. “We know what happens inside. You may be in for a surprise and he will be gone within the next 24 hours. Or, maybe one arrives in the middle of the year for him to leave.”
Klopp’s Liverpool have gone the whole month without a senior signing. The only business conducted by the Reds is recalling Fabio Carvalho, Nat Phillips, Calvin Ramsay and Rhys Williams from loan spells and shipping them out to four different clubs until the end of the season.
