Nabil Fekir’s Side Of The Liverpool Transfer That Never Happened

The France international was on the brink of joining Liverpool from Lyon in 2018 in a deal worth around £53m, with the move so advanced that personal terms were agreed, and as widely reported at the time, he had even filmed parts of his announcement video in a Liverpool kit.

Liverpool’s pursuit of him made perfect sense. A year and a half after Philippe Coutinho’s departure, the club looked to add a different dimension to their midfield, a creative playmaker who could operate between the lines and unlock defences. Fekir was identified as the player to bring that spark back into Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The transfer would have seen him arrive just weeks after Liverpool lifted the Champions League in Madrid and finished the Premier League season on an extraordinary 97 points.

Instead, the deal collapsed at the final moment, placing Fekir alongside a short list of Liverpool moves that fell apart late, from Yevhen Konoplyanka to, more recently, Marc Guehi. 

The deal collapsed because of a supposed knee problem. However, Nabil Fekir insists that the story was never true. 

Liverpool’s concerns over a long‑term knee issue became the dominant explanation for the collapse, but Fekir rejects that version outright. After undergoing further tests at Clairefontaine, France’s national football centre, he was given full clearance.

“At one point, they wanted me to believe it was the knee. But it was an excuse and the medical tests passed at Clairefontaine were very clear.”

The collapse, Fekir insists, did not come from Liverpool’s side. The issues emerged elsewhere, within the camp responsible for negotiating the final stages of the deal.

“I had a problem with my agent, my adviser. It was the agent responsible for the deal not going through.”

The disappointment was immediate, especially given the timing and the scale of Liverpool’s interest.

“Of course, I was disappointed not to go to Liverpool, very disappointed because Liverpool are a great club.”

The fallout from the collapsed transfer didn’t just create confusion, it reshaped how other clubs viewed Fekir at a crucial moment in his career. 

The narrative around a supposed knee issue followed him into the market, closing doors that should have remained open.

“What irritated me was that by trying to advance this pseudo‑physical problem, it ruled out chances with other clubs that were potentially interested, while there are other players who have experienced the same injury and it did not prevent them from returning to a normal trajectory.”

Despite the frustration, his stance on Liverpool remains calm. The club’s intent, he believes, was genuine. 

"I have no bitterness towards Liverpool. They showed me that they really wanted me. But behind, when you do not surround yourself with good people, it hurts you.”

A year after his move with The Reds collapsed, he resurfaced in Spain with Real Betis, where the noise around his failed transfer finally began to fade. 

In Seville, he became one of La Liga’s most inventive midfielders, a player capable of deciding games on his own terms, the exact profile Liverpool had identified when they pushed to bring him to Anfield. 

His spell there brought silverware too, lifting the Copa del Rey. 

Two years later, he took on a new challenge with Al‑Jazira in the UAE Pro League, adding another chapter to a career that had already spanned France and Spain. 

Earlier this summer, he made the switch again, this time to Abha in the Saudi Pro League, agreeing to a two‑year contract as he continues to carve out the next stage of his journey. 

His journey continues, but that near‑miss with Liverpool will always linger as one of the most intriguing stories of the Klopp era.