Liverpool-linked Andre Trindade has verbal agreement to leave Fluminense
Andre Trindade reportedly has a verbal agreement in place to leave Fluminense at the end of the season, with Liverpool waiting in the wings.
Trindade played the entirety of Saturday's 120-minute Copa Libertadores final, starring as Fluminense edged Boca Juniors in extra time to win their first Copa title in the club's history.
Now, less than 24 hours after this monumental triumph, ge.globo's Eric Faria is claiming that club president Mario Bittencourt has an agreement in place with two players - one of them being Andre - that they can make the move to Europe now that their duties in the final have been fulfilled.
Liverpool were heavily linked with the defensive midfielder in the summer - interest which seems to have been confirmed, with Bittencourt revealing that approaches from Merseyside were flat out rejected.
However, the Fluminense executive did hint that the club would be more open to a transfer if the Reds were to continue their pursuit of Andre in January.
Speaking in September, Bittencourt said: "The chief executive of Liverpool contacted me directly [in the summer].
"I replied to him, 'my friend, I don't sell a player now and I don't deliver now. If you want to buy now to take in January, we can start talking, or if you want to wait until December and we talk in December'."
This new development comes days after Andre himself addressed his future, revealing why he chose to remain at Fluminense in the summer despite interest from Europe.
"I think every player one day dreams of playing for a big club in Europe, in a big league," he said. "But I decided to keep my word because when the January window closed, 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."
However, in line with this reported agreement with Bittencourt, Andre has not ruled out a move away at the turn of the year,
He added: "At the end of the year, I don't know what will happen, many things could happen.
"I think that as Diniz said, when we make the right choice, when we are faithful and when we act honestly, good things always happen ahead."