2018 FIFA World Cup winner, Nabil Fekir, who was so close to joining Liverpool and making the Reds forward line even more fearsome at the start of the season, before being a target for Liverpool’s Premier League rival Chelsea as well, is now close to completing a new deal with French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyon. The club’s president Jean Michel Aulas has confirmed that the French outfit have made progress in their talks with Fekir over a new contract.
The French playmaker almost joined the Reds in the summer and was even pictured in a red shirt as the club’s fans relished what an addition he would be to their already feared attack, only to see that a £60 million transfer fell through over concerns Liverpool had with Fekir’s medical. Since then, Fekir has continued to impress with the French club, helping them to challenge for a top three finish in France while reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League, leading to Chelsea reportedly registering their interest again while French outlet L’Equipe recently suggested that Real Madrid were keen on landing Fekir.
But Lyon is understood to be ready to offer him a new deal on improved terms and the club’s president Aulas has now confirmed that the Ligue 1 side and Fekir have “advanced” in their talks. “We have made some advances in Fekir’s contract extension,” Aulas said. “We are discussing it and soon I’ll have to see Nabil, we aren’t in the final stages but in any case we have advanced.”
At the end of January, a senior football correspondent Melissa Reddy claimed there was another reason Liverpool chose to pass on the deal for Fekir.“It wasn’t about the France international’s quality, his current fitness or the cost, but his durability over time,” Reddy states in a piece for Joe.co.uk. “The club have spent years correcting poor market decisions of the past and so a long-term outlay for an instantly deprecating asset was never going to tally with their sagacious approach.”
He added: “Also bubbling in the background was a move for Shaqiri, whose relegation release clause at Stoke – a barely believable £13m – was public knowledge. For the recruitment team, the Swiss ace checked all the boxes: a technically astute player, who was available, had plenty to prove and would accept – as well as relish – the challenge of forcing his way to the XI.”
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