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Nottingham Forest’s move for Corinthians midfielder André Luiz is now 100% off, ending a transfer story which carried on beyond the summer deadline.

There had been hope the clubs could use the following months to sort out a January transfer. That won’t be happening, according to the latest information from Brazil.

André’s agent Diogo Silva has confirmed the deal collapsed. He says Forest ultimately “chose” Gustavo Puerta instead.

That gives us a pretty clear answer after weeks of uncertainty around the 20-year-old.

Forest went with Puerta

ESPN Brazil reported Silva discussed the situation during a TransferRoom event this week in São Paulo.

As we covered at the time, Forest had made a €12m (£10.4m) offer for André in August. Corinthians rejected it and sent back a counterproposal.

There was plenty of movement around the deal afterwards, including intermediaries getting involved and discussions about different financial structures. But the English window then closed without an agreement.

That wasn’t necessarily supposed to kill the move. André was staying at Corinthians until the end of the Brazilian season anyway, and reports in Brazil suggested talks could continue with January in mind.

Silva has now confirmed that Forest eventually went another way, choosing Puerta. The Colombian midfielder joined Forest from Racing Santander for €16m (£13.9m) before heading to Olympiacos.

The Greek club had also been interested in André, and both operations were clearly Evangelos Marinakis directed.

At the time, we pointed out the obvious similarities. Puerta is another young South American midfielder, operates in a similar area and was signed in roughly the same price range.

There was no information then to say one transfer had replaced the other. Now André’s own agent says that’s exactly what happened.

Corinthians back looking for buyers

Corinthians

The latest information from Itatiaia backs up the idea that this particular opportunity has gone. They report the recent possibilities involving Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos are no longer active.

So Corinthians are looking for new offers ahead of the next transfer windows, either in January or the European summer of 2027.

England remains an attractive destination for André and those around him see the Premier League as a good next step. But for now, his job is rather simpler: play.

André recently returned to the Corinthians starting XI after recovering from a thigh injury. He has five goals and two assists from 37 appearances this season, starting 31 of them.

Those around the midfielder believe strong performances over the coming months will be important in attracting another European opportunity.

A frustrating year for André

It’s another deal which has got away after André came very close to joining Milan earlier this year. The paperwork with the Italian side had reportedly been prepared, but president Osmar Stabile ultimately didn’t sign it.

André’s camp have already made their frustration with that decision very clear. Forest then popped in August, only for their €12m (£10.4m) offer to fall short of Corinthians’ demands.

This time, the interested club didn’t stick around. So the midfielder remains under contract until December 2029 – and at least Corinthians have plenty of protection on that front.

What they don’t currently have is a buyer. André now has the rest of the Brazilian season to change that ahead of January.

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