Brazilian club's president namechecks Liverpool when talking about stalled Premier League transfer

Liverpool was linked with Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade for a long time last summer but nothing came of the rumors in the end.

Then-sporting director Jorg Schmadkte turned to Wataru Endo from Stuttgart as a replacement for Fabinho . Fulham is keen on snapping Andre up a year later, however, it has been confirmed, but the Fluminense president has spoken out about the situation. He doesn't seem particularly happy with how the negotiations are unfolding — and has made a claim involving Liverpool in the process.

"There is no negotiation," Mario Bittencourt told Itatiaia Esporte . "There was a proposal that was made (by Fulham). Fluminense made a counter-proposal and there has still been no response to it."

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"This has been going on for about 10 days," he continued. "Fulham is the club that has been looking for Andre since last year, in addition to Liverpool . In January, they made a new approach. At the moment, what we have is a paper from Fulham with a proposal, a paper from Fluminense with a counter-proposal. We still don’t have a response.

"I saw a recent news story, published by an English journalist, that the player is already talking to the club. This is normal; it is part of the negotiation between the player and the club. If so, how much would he like to earn in salary, etc. It is a negotiation that Fluminense is not part of, between the athlete and the possible future club. The three parties have to reach an agreement."

Fulham is in need of a replacement for Joao Palhinha, the 29-year-old midfielder who has moved to Bayern Munich for a fee of around $60 million (£46m/€55m). The West London side was linked with Andre last summer as well and it remains possible he could end up in the Premier League a year on from what the rumor mill might have had you believe.

Liverpool.com says: Andre was never a player that Liverpool looked at extensively but it is very possible that he will end up in the Premier League after all. It will be fascinating to see just how good he is given how desperate some Reds fans were for him to arrive at Anfield around 12 months ago.