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I am heartbroken I didn’t join Liverpool
The failed transfer to Liverpool will go down for Real Betis’ Nabil Fekir as the greatest regret of his football career by a long mile, and it is for no other reason but the fact Fekir was close to signing the contract.
But all out of the wind, the whole deal collapsed, and the former Lyon star found himself stuck at a cross road unsure of what to come next.
Imagine the player lining up alongside Sadio Mane and Bobby Firmino under the Anfield lights to the chants of fans.
Then again, imagining that will mean a certain Egyptian King could have been left without his throne had the move happened or perhaps it may have worked out differently compared to the current history we know of.
It all started with Fekir having quite the incredible season with Olympic Lyon, catching the eye of numerous clubs in Europe including Juventus, Barcelona, but for the current Real Betis playmaker, it was a phone call with Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp that convinced the player to snub the other clubs.
To put plainly, he really wanted the move to Merseyside which the playmaker openly admits in a recent interview, detailing the conversations with Jurgen Klopp.
“After meeting him, I wanted to join Liverpool even more. He’s a good person. It was really difficult to deal with as I really wanted to go to Liverpool. It was a moment that was not easy for me.” he admitted.
Speaking further, he revealed what transpired then on:
“Everything was closed, I passed all the interviews, I spoke with Jurgen Klopp, he told me that he loved me. We all did it and, when we were about to sign, there were problems with my representative and the negotiation broke down.” Fekir revealed.
The promising transfer ended up failing with all the moves that were made because of the player’s agent.
“I saw plenty of things which weren’t true.” the player went on to disclose.
“It was said the knee stopped me going to Liverpool but that wasn’t true.” Fekir argued over the reports that the signing failed due to an injury report that was discovered during his medical.
“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.”
The failed transfer may be something of the past but for Nabil Fekir, it is something he continues to be disappointed in like it happened today.
“Of course I was disappointed not to go to Liverpool, very disappointed because Liverpool are a great club. I met the coach, Jurgen Klopp, and it went well.” He said.
Though the chance to play at Anfield never came, the chance to play in the La Liga came for the playmaker in Real Betis, and the 29 year old has made 118 appearances scoring 22 goals while playing for the club.