Andre’s last match before potential Liverpool move could be vs. Man City

With Fluminense lifting the Copa Libertadores trophy on Saturday, the campaign has been extended for Liverpool target Andre – with a high-profile closer.

Fluminense sealed a dramatic 2-1 victory over Boca Juniors in the final of the Copa Libertadores, clinching the trophy for their first time in history.

In doing so, it vindicated the decision for Andre to reject a summer move to Liverpool and play out the full season with his boyhood club.

The Reds’ interest is likely to be revived in January, with there an expectation that the 22-year-old departs Brazil for Europe at the end of their campaign.

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With the season in Brazil running throughout the calendar year, rather than summer to summer in the Premier League, he is nearing the end of a long schedule.

But while Fluminense’s final fixture in the Brazilian Serie A is due to come at home to Luis Suarez’s Gremio on December 6, triumph in the South American equivalent of the Champions League has pushed back his final game.

That will instead come in the Club World Cup, which will be held in Saudi Arabia between December 12 and 22.

Fluminense will enter at the semi-final stage, facing the winners of either Egyptian side Al Ahly or one of Saudi club Al-Ittihad or New Zealand outfit Auckland City.

The likelihood is that Al-Ittihad, who signed Fabinho, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante in the summer and saw a world-record bid for Mo Salah rejected, will be their opponents.

In the other semi-final bracket are Man City, as winners of the Champions League, with Club Leon of Mexico or Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan their opponents.

That means Fluminense could face Man City in the final of the Club World Cup on December 22, which would be the final game of their season.

In theory, the two sides could even meet in a third-placed playoff on the same day, if they were both to lose their semi-finals.

It would be a fitting farewell for Andre, if he is in fact poised to join Liverpool, coming up against the Reds’ fiercest of modern rivals.

With Fluminense qualifying for the Club World Cup, it also means a shorter break for the midfielder in the event of a switch to Europe.

Andre has already played 55 games for club and country in 2023 – and likely to break the 60-game mark before the season is up, he may require time off to recover in January.