A big move was very close in 2018 which Nabil Fekir speaks about how disappointed he was when it collapsed. He has joined Real Betis a year later and has been in exceptional form since.
The 28-year-old Frenchman made his professional debut for a club of his nationality, Olympique Lyonnais. He played for two years in the club’s B-team and earned his promotion in 2013. For six years, he has been in his top form, playing 145 matches and scoring 54 goals.
In 2019, he made a move to the La Liga side, Real Betis which had confused everyone. A player who used to play Champions League year after year moved to a club that was struggling to survive in the league. However, he justified his choice as a new chapter in his career and is willing to repay the trust the club had when they bought him.
Nabil Fekir Speaks About the Transfer That Collapsed
Nabil Fekir Speaks About His Talks With Jurgen Klopp
We can only imagine how things would have turned out if Fekir had joined Liverpool. The French forward had turned a lot of heads with his phenomenal form at Lyon. And one such club that had pursued the attention was Liverpool.
In 2018, the Merseyside club had just lost their biggest asset, Philipe Coutinho. Unlike now, Coutinho used to be a sensational footballer and his big-money move to Barcelona was the proof. However, his departure had left a huge gap in the Liverpool side that were slowly getting back on the top.
And they had got the perfect replacement in the form of Nabil Fekir. The move was close to complete. The final stage, that is the medicals was also completed, but the deal then collapsed due to unclear reasons. One of the rumoured reasons stated that his ongoing knee problems to be the factor. Whereas the other stated that Liverpool were trying to lower the €60 million price tag put up by Betis.
Talking in an interview with Betis TV, Fekir opened up about the move that never happened, saying;
“I passed all the interviews, I spoke with Jurgen Klopp, he told me that he loved me, we all did it and, when we were about to sign, there were problems with my representative and the negotiation broke down.
“They said it was because I had knee problems, but the truth has been proven over time. My knee is super good.”
Newcastle United See the Frenchman as a Potential Addition
In the current scenario, any player available in the football world is a potential candidate. Newcastle United became the richest football club in the world after the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund worth £320 billion took over the club from Mike Ashley last week.
It has been chaos since, as every player has been linked with a move. If not all, few of the linked players are likely to join. One such player who has been included in the ‘potential’ move is Nabil Fekir.
Newcastle now have all the funds in the world and there is no reason why they cannot afford him. However, for the transfer to proceed, the player should be equally interested. And he has left us on a cliffhanger with the vague statement in his interview with Moviestar+;
“I don’t think about the offers. I am very happy here and learning every day and I hope it can continue like this. The fans love me, it gives me a lot of joy and I want to give it back to them on the pitch.
You never know in football, but the truth is that now I don’t think about offers. I’m at Betis and I’m very happy here.”
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