Club president admits he’s now expecting a ‘stratospheric’ offer for £35m Liverpool target 

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Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt has admitted that Liverpool target Andre Trindade is likely to leave the club in January.

Fresh off winning the Copa Libertadores with Fluminense on Saturday, Andre looks set to move to Europe this winter. As they were in the summer time, Liverpool appear to be one of the leading candidates to sign the 22-year-old.

And in new comments via Globo, Bittencourt has claimed that he’s expecting offers to arrive imminently for Andre.

“We are waiting,” said the director. “Today, there is no concrete proposal for Andre. But we’re sure that after the [Club] World Cup – he’s going to play in the World Cup – a stratospheric proposal will arrive.

“It could be the biggest sale in the club’s history.”

Fluminense braced for Andre offer

Prior to the Libertadores final this weekend, you could be forgiven for thinking that Andre was already a Liverpool player.

The way fans have celebrated Fluminense’s win on social media is as if the Brazil international is already signed and sealed as a Red.

But for the time being it looks like that is far from being the case. Although Andre spoke about Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp in particular in the run-up to Saturday’s final, his signature is still clearly up for grabs.

It’s certainly still possible that the Reds choose to keep their powder dry in January. With Thiago Alcantara and hopefully Stefan Bajcetic set to return at some point in the New Year, Klopp does have midfield options.

Perhaps they’ll decide that they simply don’t need to be spending Andre’s reported £35m release clause for the time being.

Should that be Liverpool’s decision, then they’ll lose out on the player. As Bittencourt suggests, if the Reds don’t pull their wallet out, somebody else will. Fulham have already today been claimed to now be in the driving seat.

If that does happen, you get the feeling that Liverpool and Klopp will come to regret it.

From the early weeks of the season it’s become quite apparent that the Reds need a deep-lying midfielder. Although Andre looks like he’s able to perform other roles too, he’s obviously someone who could do that job.

Still 22 and learning, Liverpool can mould him into the player they need for years and years to come. By Flu standards, the money may be ‘stratospheric,’ but for Liverpool, it should be manageable. Let’s make it happen.