Sky Sports cast doubt on Liverpool’s Nabil Fekir deal

Matt Stead

Nabil Fekir could try and engineer a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona instead of Liverpool if he impresses at the World Cup, according to a Sky Sports reporter.

Fekir seems destined to join Liverpool from Lyon this summer in a deal worth around £53million.

The Frenchman is said to have earmarked Liverpool as the only club he wants to move to, and the Reds are hopeful of completing the deal before he heads out for World Cup duty with France.

But Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol believes the 24-year-old could hold off on an agreement in the hope of luring Barcelona or Real Madrid into making a move.

“The issue with Fekir is Liverpool are trying to be very, very smart,” Solhekol told the Sky Sports Transfer Talk podcast.

“They are trying to get their business done as early as possible. In a lot of ways when there’s a World Cup or European Championships, it pays to get your business done early in case the players you are signing have a really, really good tournament and attract a lot of interest.

“Then their price goes up and Liverpool behind the scenes are trying to sign Fekir before the World Cup.

“If you are the player, or if you are his agent, you’re thinking ‘Liverpool are after me, other people are sniffing around, should I just hang on and wait for the World Cup? I might be top scorer at the World Cup. Real Madrid or Barcelona might come in for me’.

“But we’ve seen Liverpool be very, very smart this summer, tying down two midfielders and they are working very, very hard to get Fekir as well.”