Liverpool fail to follow up Andre bid as Premier League rivals agree deal

Wolves have pounced to land Fluminense midfielder Andre in a £21million deal - 12 months after Liverpool bid £25m for the Brazil international. Gary O'Neil's side have now had a bid accepted for the 23-year-old worth an initial £18.5million plus a further £2.5m in add-ons. And Andre is expected to fly to England later today to undergo medical tests in the Black Country ahead of sealing his long-awaited switch to the Premier League.  It has come one year later than expected, however, as the box-to-box maestro was the subject of strong interest from Liverpool last summer as Jurgen Klopp and the Anfield hierarchy scrambled to land a No.6 in the final stretch of the transfer window. They eventually settled on Wataru Endo after failing to finalise a £25m deal for Andre, who had already given his word to Fluminense that he would be staying put, and have never shown an appetite to return to the negotiating table despite the availability of the player.

Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt previously explained: "We had an offer for Andre of €30m 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, which we turned down because we felt it was below what Fluminense expects for the player.  "The situation doesn't worry us because the relationship with Andre and Carlos Leite [the player's agent] is very good. They both agreed to stay and both understood that he has to go somewhere he wants to go." Fulham are also believed to have made an unsuccessful approach for Andre, who Marco Silva viewed as a potential replacement for Joao Palhinha.

Andre later added on his failed switch to Liverpool, stating in October of last year: “It was just something I couldn't refuse, the club, the league. Every player dreams of playing at such a club. I decided to keep my word and stay. If I've accepted that offer, I’d not feel 100 per cent comfortable with myself."  Now he is set to join international team-mates Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha at Molineux as Wolves bid to get their season up and running following last night's comfortable 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Burnley.  They currently sit in 19th place in the Premier League after losing both of their opening top-flight matches to Arsenal (2-0) and Chelsea (6-2), respectively.  Andre came through the ranks at Fluminense in 2020 and has made just shy of 200 appearances in all competitions for the Brazilian giants. He has also been capped five times by the Selecao and will add some much needed bite, energy and needle to Wolves' engine room.