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Rumours have been swirling for some time regarding the future of Andre Trindade as clubs chase the Brazilian’s signature in January
Liverpool are among those admirers - and perhaps remain the side most heavily linked with the midfielder
Reports in South America as far back as May 2022 suggested that Liverpool scouts had been regulars at Fluminense games as they continued to monitor the young midfielder
The club first becoming aware of Andre when following the progress of loanee Allan and assessing future signing Marcelo Pitaluga.
Klopp's engine room is still lacking a dominant holding midfielder to help tighten the defence
Brazilian-British journalist Maurício Alencar believes that the Fluminense player would be the perfect addition to Liverpool
Alencar
"Andre plays more as a six; he is obviously very strong and agile, really good on the ball, plays two-touch football, great first touch.
"He is always appearing in those pockets of space between the defence and midfield, and the midfield and attack sometimes. He is a very versatile player.
“I think he is a cut above the rest of the Fluminense squad, and when I watch Brazilian matches, he is always a standout player, so I am surprised he has yet to move to Europe.”
While Colombian-American journalist Juan Arango delved into the physicality, thought processes, and understanding of the sport that Andre has.
Arango said:
“He is very understanding of his positioning on the pitch; if you look at his numbers, goals, so what, but he is a player that understands the concept of where he needs to be positioned, yet also knows how and where his team-mates need to be in relation to him so he can move the ball faster; he can understand that ‘if I go here, so and so has to be here’.
“Brazilian football is very physical, borderline violent! Some of the challenges are borderline MMA. The physicality is taken to the extreme in Brazilian and Argentine football, so he will deal with this physical nature in the Premier League.”
Alencar added:
“His height. He is not a tall player, and I know that Premier League midfielders tend to be quite tall from a defensive point of view for heading.
“Similar small defensive players have all been quite good at headers; Javier Mascherano, Lisandro Martínez, and Ngolo Kante may be less so.
“Andre does lack that; he likes the ball to his feet and likes to play it on the ground. I think the heading can be improved upon, but maybe it is something that evolves.”
While Arango believes that another element may see the midfielder take a while to adapt at the beginning of his potential Liverpool career. He said:
“There is a lot of space and time in Brazilian football.
“There is space and time, but he will not have this at Liverpool, both offensively and defensively, with the way Jurgen Klopp likes to play. But defensively, in Brazilian football, you don’t have pressing.”
Alencar continued
"He is the perfect player that Liverpool need, playing from the back and being able to intercept. He is very quick to react to the loss of the ball and reading the game.”
Liverpool and Klopp will no doubt continue to monitor the situation. Watch him in action at the weekend in the Copa Libertadores showdown - then watch this space if he passes another audition.
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