Real Betis attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir has delivered a cryptic response to suggestions his entourage are at fault for the collapse of his move to Liverpool last summer, saying simply that he 'knows what happened' - and that the prevailing belief falls wide of the mark.
While at Lyon, Fekir was inches from joining the Reds, but the deal dramatically collapsed at the final hurdle, for reasons that were never clearly explained.
The belief at the time was that an underlying knee injury was uncovered, an explanation we were all content to accept and move on with our lives free from the shackles of 'Fekir to Liverpool' headlines every single morning.
How wrong we were, however, since that was simply the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end.
After the France international completed his move to Real Betis, the story began to gain traction once again, and last month, a couple of complimentary alternative explanations were offered as to why the move didn't happen.
The first came from Fekir's former agent Jean-Pierre Bernes, who blamed the player's agent for last minute demands that put Liverpool off the idea of signing him.
Mucho Betis #GranadaRealBetis #DíaDeBetis @LaLiga pic.twitter.com/I7AlAtcgCP
— Nabil Fekir (@NabilFekir) October 27, 2019
Dave Maddock of the Mirror then told Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement that, while the injury existed, it was a mere sticking point that could have been overcome had last-minute wage demands and the involvement of Fekir's brother in the deal is what caused it all to go belly-up.
And now, in another twist in a story that has no right to still be going on, Fekir himself has come out with a vague, cryptic response to these claims that puts us right back at square one.
"I know it is not because of my entourage," Fekir told French media of the move that didn't happen, via insidefutbol.com. "I know what happened."
So, in summary, we are no further along with this, even though we're still talking about it a solid 18 months after it was supposed to happen.
He's scored three times in ten games since joining Real Betis.
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Source : 90min