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Lyon President Claims Nabil Fekir Talks With Liverpool Rivals

Lyon President Claims Nabil Fekir Talks With Liverpool Rivals

The Champions League finalists looked certain to sign the French forward on the eve of the World Cup but the deal was cancelled.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Before the World Cup started it looked like Liverpool were about to take a ridiculously large early lead in the competition to have the best transfer window but now they might see one of their rivals take a leap ahead of them by signing their big target.

Liverpool definitely improved last season. They may have repeated the trick of finishing fourth but that may have been third if they hadn't taken their eye off the ball for the Champions League final, a final that is proof of their improvement.

The Reds already had confirmed that they'd be signing Naby Keita in the summer and then quickly after their loss to Real Madrid had wrapped up Monaco midfielder Fabinho.

It looked certain that Fekir would be moving to Liverpool.
It looked certain that Fekir would be moving to Liverpool.

Then they were on the verge of signing Nabil Fekir. The Lyon forward had even picked his number and done an interview with LFCTV only for the £53 million deal to be cancelled amidst rumours of a knee injury leading him to failing a medical.

Fekir's move to Anfield was off till at least after the World Cup but Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has now revealed a new Premier League suitor for the forward, telling beIN Sports:

"I was with Jose Mourinho the other day. We had long discussions.

"Personally, I am no longer in discussions with Liverpool. At the moment, we are waiting for France and Nabil to have a fantastic World Cup."

Aulas spoke about the initial expected move to Liverpool, adding, "It was expected at a certain point for him to go to Liverpool. I gave the green light. It did not happen because things were dragged out too long."

The 24 year old, who is part of the France squad at the World Cup, had agreed a five year £140,000-a-week deal at Anfield before his transfer collapsed.

Fekir scored 23 goals for Lyon last season and can play in a number of forward positions. Image: PA Images
Fekir scored 23 goals for Lyon last season and can play in a number of forward positions. Image: PA Images

There would be a certain annoyance at Anfield if the man they had targeted to be Philippe Coutinho's replacement moved to Old Trafford.

United have started their own transfer window in similarly proactive fashion to Liverpool with Jose Mourinho already signing midfielder Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and full back Diogo Dalot from Porto.

Where will Fekir be playing next season?

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Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Manchester United, World Cup news, Premier League, Transfer news, Lyon, World Cup, France