No further talks between Liverpool and Lyons over Nabil Fekir
Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
July 1 2018, 6:00pm,
The Sunday Times
Liverpool have had no contact with Lyons since the proposed transfer of the France playmaker Nabil Fekir collapsed.
The projected £52.8 million transfer of the 24-year-old ended abruptly on June 8 on medical grounds and, despite the continued noise surrounding the matter, there have been no further negotiations.
The facts are that Liverpool agreed the fee, an initial £48.4 million and £4.4 million in add-ons, with the French side on June 6 and struck personal terms with the player.Liverpool staff travelled to France to conduct a medical the following day and it was the next morning that Liverpool pulled out of the transfer completely.
Lyon then issued a statement announcing they had stopped negotiations 36 hours later. There has been no more contact, no re-negotiation of transfer fees, since then.
Fekir, who suffered a serious knee injury in 2015, has been involved in France’s World Cup campaign and appeared as a substitute in their 4-3 last-16 success over Argentina.
He replaced Antoine Griezmann in the 83rd minute of the game and Didier Deschamps’ side will now meet Uruguay in the quarter-finals in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday.
Liverpool return to pre-season training tomorrow when Jürgen Klopp’s summer signings, Naby Keïta and Fabinho, will train officially for the first time.
One of Klopp’s priorities will be to assess the mental state of Loris Karius as he reports back to the club following his errors in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.
There remains interest in signing a new goalkeeper, but a move for Roma’s Alisson has been complicated by the valuation of the Brazilian No 1 and rival overtures from the likes of Real Madrid. Liverpool have no interest in Barcelona’s back-up goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/no-further-talks-between-liverpool-and-lyons-over-nabil-fekir-f98w7h0ls
