Mario Bittencourt – President of Fluminense – has now made an interesting claim about Andre amid links to Manchester City.
The comments were made during an interview with Globo Esporte.
So, what was said about Andre amid links to Manchester City? Let’s take a look…
President confirms English club bid for Andre
Well – according to Globo Esporte – Manchester City asked about the Brazil international after facing Fluminense in the FIFA Club World Cup final.
Pep Guardiola also called Andre a “quality” player while out in Saudi Arabia for the prestigious competition.
Now, Bittencourt has revealed that an unnamed English club recently bid for the South American after an offer from Liverpool was rejected.
The President of Fluminense said: “We had an offer for Andre of €30m (£26m) from Liverpool and we said no because we had agreed with the player that we wouldn’t sell him because we wanted to win the Libertadores.
“Since then, we’ve had a second offer – from an English club – for well under €30m (£26m) which we turned down because we felt it was below what Fluminense expects for the player.”
Now, Fulham are also keen to sign Andre, so there is nothing to suggest that it was definitely Manchester City who made the bid – although it could well have been.
The Citizens have just allowed Kalvin Phillips to join West Ham on loan, so perhaps Txiki Begiristain identified the Fluminense No.7 as a potential replacement for the England international.
How much Manchester City would need to pay for Andre
Interestingly, Fluminense do have a price in mind for Andre.
A separate story from Globo Esporte claims that the Brazilian giants are happy to sell the 22-year-old for a sum of €35m (£30m).
That is roughly the same amount as West Ham’s option to buy Phillips on a permanent basis – according to Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany, the clause stands at £34m.
Therefore, Manchester City could decide to make a £30m bid for Andre to replace the Yorkshireman – either before Thursday night’s transfer deadline or in the summer.
