OPINION
Liverpool had looked to be on the verge of making Lyon captain Nabil Fekir their third signing of the summer before an eleventh-hour collapse saw the deal hit the skids.
The start of the World Cup has seen talk of transfers put on the back-burner for now, with no official reason forthcoming from Liverpool relating to the breakdown of the Fekir deal.
It is widely assumed that a long-standing knee issue discovered in the medical was the reason behind the deal falling through, but the latest twist suggests that may not be true.
As reported by Mirror correspondent David Maddock, Fekir is still keen on a move to Anfield, and his advisors believe that a new deal could be resurrected between Liverpool and Lyon.
Fekir still wants @LFC move. His advisors believe it is possible to resurrect restructured deal. Lyon president concedes it could still happen. Asked by BeIN Sports if negotiations with Liverpool are dead, Aulas said: “Nothing is ever completely over in the footballing world.”
— David Maddock (@MaddockMirror) June 23, 2018
New quotes from Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, in which he says: “Nothing is completely over in the footballing world” have also added fuel to the fire.
However, Liverpool must now resist the temptation to go back in for Fekir, which is what every fan will want, despite the possibility of a move being brought back to life.
What must be understood here is that the club will have had their reasons for pulling out of the deal.
Whether those were medical or financial reasons, the club must now stick to their guns and trust their first judgement, because things will likely not have changed since then.
If Fekir’s knee is the issue, then that is obviously still a problem, and if finances are the issue, then the possibility of renegotiating with Aulas is a long shot.
The Lyon chief is a notoriously tough negotiator, and Liverpool will have experienced that first-hand in their initial dealings with the Ligue 1 club.
The likelihood is that they will just be messed around again, and valuable time will be wasted in a transfer window that will go a long way to determining whether they are true Premier League contenders next season.
Fekir is not worth that, despite his 23 goals in 2017/18, and there will be other targets the club have in mind as alternative options.
Michael Edwards and his recruitment team have worked wonders so far this window, and they must be trusted to get the job done without a deal for Fekir this summer.