Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt has explained why Liverpool failed in their attempt to sign Brazil international Andre Trindade last summer.
The Reds had earmarked Andre for a potential move after they saw both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia instead join Chelsea.
Fluminense, though, resisted overtures from the Anfield side, who ultimately brought in Japan international captain Wataru Endo from Stuttgart for £16.25million.
And Bittencourt has highlighted how serious Liverpool were with their interest and why it was always doomed to failure.
Bittencourt
"There was an official proposal from Liverpool last year during the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores,"
"I contacted directly the directors of Liverpool and told them that at that moment I would not respond to the proposal because the player was not for sale because we were interested in keeping him until the end of the Libertadores because we really believed we could win it”
"Liverpool understood our move and we knew that new offers would come in. We knew if we kept the player with us we would certainly value him even more than he already was."
Bittencourt added:
The player and his manager have been very straightforward with us on this occasion.
"We know that it's the player who decides. If he's interested in playing abroad, we won't go against him, and I've given them my word that I'll do everything I can to make this dream come true."
Fluminense and Andre went on to win the Copa Libertadores before they were beaten 4-0 by Manchester City in the Club World Cup final last December.
The player continues to be linked with a number of Premier League clubs, including Fulham, Wolves and Manchester United.
Kommentare