Neil Jones reiterated Liverpool’s ‘clear’ interest in Fluminense midfielder Andre, suggesting ‘there’s a fair chance’ of signing the player in January.
It’s a move that would set the Reds back ‘at least’ £34m (as relayed by Tribal Football), with the club understood to also be keen on adding a centre-back to their ranks in the same window.
“Clearly Liverpool like Andre and made an attempt to see if they might have been able to sign him in the summer; so clearly they were interested in the player,” the reporter informed EOTK Insider on Empire’s Substack.
“Fluminense were never going to sell him, or made clear they were never going to sell him.
“They probably will sell him in January, so I think there’s a fair chance of getting him.”
It’s fair to say that Jurgen Klopp’s men haven’t necessarily struggled without a specialist No.6 – or, in the Brazilian’s case, a midfield controller – given how well the pairing of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister have adapted to their duties at Anfield.
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We’ve now got the midfield legs and dynamism that was so sorely missed from the prior campaign, with our Hungarian international providing plenty of defensive nous, as had been missed once Jordan Henderson’s energy levels dropped off the face of a cliff.
The switch to a two-man midfield, in particular, against Wolves also offered some potential of how Liverpool could look navigate the season without a natural No.6.
We do have Wataru Endo available in the ranks for that very purpose, nonetheless, and there is an element of expectation that Ryan Gravenberch could be nurtured in a manner that would see his attributes put to good use in a deep-lying position.
Don’t be expecting a carbon-copy of the Reds of yore, however. This is very much Liverpool 2.0. and we’re far from being reliant on a specialist if our opening five-game salvo in the Premier League this year is anything to go by.