Liverpool Resume Nabil Fekir Talks Despite Lyon Insistence That Deal Was Off Last Month

Liverpool could still complete a deal for Lyon midfielder Nabil Fekir after the transfer saga of the summer reared its head again this week. The Reds were

Liverpool could still complete a deal for Lyon midfielder Nabil Fekir after the transfer saga of the summer reared its head again this week.

The Reds were potentially hours away from completing a deal for Fekir before the World Cup, but they tried to lower their £53m valuation of the player based on concerns about his medical record.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas turned down the reduced bid and insisted that Fekir would not be on the move this summer, appearing to put an end to a transfer Liverpool had been chasing for months.

But the Mirror reports that talks have resumed in the last few days, and the Reds are hopeful of thrashing out the details so that Fekir can move to Anfield straight away after France's World Cup campaign ends.

The 24-year-old nearly signed on the dotted line last month and even appeared to take part in an unveiling interview for the club's in-house television station LFC TV.

But in taking a medical at Anfield, Liverpool discovered problems with Fekir's knee - the result of knee surgery undertaken in 2015. They attempted to insert clauses into the offer which would reduce the fee if Fekir suffered with injuries, whereupon Lyon abandoned the deal.

As well as shutting off the deal to Liverpool, Aulas insisted that Fekir's transfer value could go up if he played a starring role in France's World Cup campaign.

Les Bleus reached the quarter finals with a 4-3 win over Argentina on Saturday, but Fekir has only appeared as a substitute in all four of their games for a combined total of 58 minutes on the pitch, so this is unlikely to drive up his value.

Manchester United has also been mentioned as a possible destination for Fekir.