Former Liverpool target Nabil Fekir has made fresh claims around his failed move to Anfield, accusing his ex-agent of preventing the switch from coming to fruition.
This comes from The Times (via the Mirror), with the publication noting Jean-Pierre Berne’s, the player’s old representative, denials on the matter, with the agent pointing to a reported knee injury and the involvement of a separate agent as the cause.
“It was a dark moment,” the former Lyon star told the publication.
“I saw plenty of things which weren’t true. It was said the knee stopped me going to Liverpool but that wasn’t true.
“I went to Clairefontaine [France’s football centre near Paris], and they did all the proof [medical] and the knee was fine.
“I had a problem with my agent, my adviser. It was the agent responsible for the deal not going through.
“Of course I was disappointed not to go to Liverpool, very disappointed because Liverpool are a great club.”
The Reds had been interested in signing the 28-year-old Frenchman for £53m after the attacking midfielder’s remarkable 2017/18 campaign in Ligue 1.
It remains a case of what could have been with Fekir, who sadly missed out on an opportunity to join a side that went on to secure the Champions League and Premier League title.
As far as goalscoring midfielders went – a position some pundits have urged Liverpool to focus on – the World Cup-winner would have certainly fit the bill.
Of course, given Jurgen Klopp’s tendency to opt for a more robust, reliable midfield trio, it would have been interesting to see whether the German would have encouraged the French international’s natural inclination for goals or moulded him for a more reseved role.
Dodged a bullet with this guy. I’d say he’s bang average, but actually he’s not even that good. The scary thing is the contract we were looking to give him, he’d have been a millstone around us, as well as being a negative influence in the dressing room. Klopp always places a high priority on a players character. Fekir is responsible for the agent who represents him, picking someone that untrustworthy is a direct reflection on him, this would only have led to issues further down the road, if he’d succeeded, the agent would be going public demanding a better contract, if he failed he’d kick up a stink to get the player out of Anfield.