Liverpool are unlikely to sign Nabil Fekir this summer, according to Echo journalist James Pearce.
The Merseyside correspondent told a question-and-answer session on the newspaper’s live blog (Monday, 1.46pm) that he would be “surprised” if the club reignited their pursuit of the Lyon playmaker after his transfer collapsed earlier this month.
Fekir underwent a Liverpool medical after the terms of a £53million deal had been agreed but the deal fell through amid concerns over his right knee.
“Liverpool insist they have moved on from Fekir but sources close to the player still believe a deal could be revived,” Pearce explained. “His heart was set on Anfield and Lyon are clearly still keen to cash in.
“Having decided that £53million was too big a risk due to concerns over an old knee injury, I’d be surprised if Liverpool went back in for him.
“I still expect Klopp to sign a Coutinho replacement in this window but as we’ve seen with the left-back and the centre-back situations in recent years, if he can’t get exactly what he wants he’s prepared to wait.”
OPINION
Liverpool fans were almost universally crushed when their club failed to agree a deal with Lyon for the signing of the France international shortly before the World Cup began. He has been seen by so many as the answer to the need for a blue-chip playmaker following the January exit of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona. There was little criticism of Liverpool for moving the goalposts after medics raised concern over Fekir’s knee history, but supporters are keen for them to try to negotiate a knockdown price for a stellar talent. There will be great disappointment at the well-connected Pearce’s claim that a deal for the 24-year-old is seemingly dead in the water. Fekir is a matchwinner, a goalscorer and creator who can set the tempo in the middle of the pitch or cause chaos in the three principal forward positions. If Liverpool have given up on him, there will be strident demands for a top-class alternative to be signed before the window shuts.