Andre Trindade: Liverpool & Arsenal target explains why he turned down summer move

Andre Trindade, a midfielder for Fluminense, has said that he turned down the opportunity to leave the team in the summer because he had already committed to backing his present team to win the Copa Libertadores this year.

Although The Ball Is Square understands the Reds are still eager to close a deal for the 22-year-old, club president Mario Bittencourt has previously stated that Liverpool’s attempt to recruit Andre during the summer was unsuccessful. The Reds would, however, have to withstand resistance from Arsenal, who have noted Andre as a possible January target to strengthen their midfield.

Before the Copa Libertadores final, Andre said in an interview with CONMEBOL that he would like to play for a top European team, but he turned down the opportunity to do so to focus on winning with his current side. 

“This is the first time I’m going to talk about it in more detail; I didn’t talk about it during this previous transfer window,” he stated. “It’s every player’s dream, I believe, to play in a major league in Europe for a major side at some point. But when the January window ended, Diniz [the manager of Fluminense] told me he wanted me to stay until the end of the year, so I decided to keep my promise. I informed him that no matter what happened, I would stay until the end of the season, even though neither of us expected for me to receive a proposal like this one.”

“It ended up passing and arriving in the middle of the year, we were still in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores. It was a very difficult decision to make. I think if I had accepted this proposal, I don’t know if I would have felt 100% comfortable because I had already agreed with Diniz. He really values his word and his honesty. I know that when we do the right things, good things always happen. And in January he told me that without a doubt, if I stayed I would gamble and my value would increase.”

Trindade continued, “For me, I had not to think about these things and just do the right thing. Our team could be eliminated in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, we have to make the decision. Arriving at the final, everyone will say now that I made the right decision. I think it was a very faithful gesture on my part, to stay, to try to get this title, to try to help as much as possible. So today, regardless of whether our team advanced to the quarter-finals, semis, now the final or not, I was sure that I made the right choice. We are in the final now, we will do everything and I will give my life to win this title.”

“At the end of the year, I don’t know what will happen, many things could happen. I’m sure that just having arrived here, knowing that it worked, was something that helped me a lot as a person and also helped me in my career. I think that as Diniz said, when we make the right choice, when we are faithful and when we act honestly, good things always happen ahead.”