Speaking in an exclusive interview with Get French Football News, the Head of Football at RMC Sport Mohamed Bouhafsi discussed the future of Lyon captain Nabil Fékir & explained his view on why the player’s move to Liverpool last summer fell through.
“It has always been denied to me that there would be another offer from Liverpool for Nabil Fékir this summer, first off. No concrete activity from Liverpool at least for the moment on Fékir. The fact that there aren’t any big European clubs interested at the moment, I think that this is a pretty unique situation. Fékir had a solid season, but he is capable of much better. To defend him, it is not easy to have a good season after winning the World Cup. Clubs today have a different way of looking at football, especially in his position. They are looking for players who can counter-attack, very powerful, very quick players. You see Real Madrid with Vinicius, you have Liverpool interested in Pépé, we have seen Bayern being interested in Pépé and Sané and Hudson-Odoi. Today, teams are looking for players who can be very mobile and rapid. Fékir doesn’t match that, and the position of the #10 is becoming rarer and rarer in terms of tactical set-ups.”
“But, he is a player with incredible talent, crazy talent. I think his future is more likely to be with Spanish or Italian clubs, rather than an English club. Even though it is true that the doors could open in the coming weeks, but there is less interest in him than in previous years.”
Why didn’t his transfer to Liverpool happen last summer?
I don’t know exactly why. The details, there are lots of different theories. Some people speak about the knee, about other things. I know that he underwent a medical with Liverpool, that all the videos had been prepared etc. I think it is possible that at the end of the day, Liverpool came back to Lyon to try to renegotiate terms and also with Fékir. But I think also it is possible, maybe, that not the entirety of Liverpool’s staff were convinced about bringing him in.
Liverpool is a very organised club with a recruitment cell, technical staff, Director of Football and it is a club where there are lots of discussions. The process of signing players requires every member of the transfer committee to get behind the signing before Jürgen Klopp has the last word. Maybe that was not the case at the end with Fékir, especially at the price that was in the process of being agreed, which was well beyond €50m.
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