Surprise as Fulham leading race for big signature – ‘Strongest candidate’ for ‘priority target’

Fulham are leading the race to sign midfielder André from Fluminense, with Arsenal and Liverpool working on other options.

That’s according to UOL, who say Fulham are the ‘strongest candidate in England’ to move for the midfielder, who has been scouted for months.

They report that the Fluminense star, who is also a frequent name in the Brazil squad at this point, is the ‘priority target’ for Marco Silva and his team.

Those in charge at Craven Cottage believe that Bayern Munich will try to sign João Palhinha again in the January transfer window and Fulham will therefore want to have a replacement wrapped up as soon as possible.

André is the man they want, and they had thought they would face competition from Arsenal and Liverpool but that does not appear to be the case as they are looking at other options. The Gunners, for example, are said to want to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa.

That’s not stopped the two clubs from continuing to scout the midfielder and they, alongside Fulham, sent representatives to the Copa Libertadores final this weekend to watch the player in action.

André is currently valued by Fluminense at €30-35m as he has a contract until December 2026, so Fulham will have to dig deep if they are to win the race for him.

With Palhinha possibly departing for a sum way over that, though, they would have the money to spend and now appear to be pushing ahead to ensure they win the race.