NABIL FEKIR during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 game between Lyon and Villareal - First Round (Photo Stephane GUIOCHON/Maxppp/PA Images)

French journalists claim Liverpool to revive interest in cut-price Nabil Fekir deal

Following the collapse of Liverpool’s £52.75 million deal to sign Lyon’s Nabil Fekir last summer, reports in France claim it could now be revived for a lower fee.

The Reds pulled out of their agreement with the Ligue 1 side and their captain at the 11th hour, due to concerns over Fekir’s long-term knee problems.

Fekir has already conducted media duties with LFCTV, including an interview wearing the Liverpool shirt, and was set to become the third signing of an ambitious summer.

Instead, Xherdan Shaqiri arrived days later for £13 million, and the Frenchman stayed with Lyon, scoring 12 goals and laying on nine assists in 39 games.

While it was widely believed that the deal was dead and Fekir could not be expected to join the Reds in the future, journalists in France have now claimed otherwise.

Assessing Lyon’s plans for the summer, Le Progres claimed Liverpool are “still following” the 25-year-old, before reportedly following this up by claiming they could restart talks, but would “not be willing to invest as much as last summer.”

This was then corroborated by CANAL+ and Eurosport’s Romain Collet-Gaudin, who took to Twitter on Thursday morning to write that the Reds are “very interested” in Fekir.

The fee he quotes is €30 million, which would be around £26.7 million.

Collet-Gaudin was among the first to report on Liverpool’s pursuit of Fekir in 2018, conflicting claims from the English press last May to reveal Klopp had held a “very good meeting” with the attacking midfielder— a month later, a deal was agreed.

Nabil FEKIR - 29.08.2015 - Caen / Lyon - 4eme journee Ligue 1 Photo : Nolwenn Le Gouic / Icon Sport

The popular line on Merseyside remains that Fekir is not a target this summer, but it will be interesting to see whether the story develops in the coming weeks.

Speaking in the days after the breakdown of his initial move to Anfield, the player’s agent claimed that it was “not the end of the story,” while last month Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed he will leave this summer.

Fekir only has 12 months remaining on his current contract, which would put Liverpool in a strong position for negotiations with the notoriously difficult Aulas.

Though certainly less reliable than Collet-Gaudin given he writes for La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, Nicolo Schira has added that “Liverpool have offered Fekir a contract until 2024 [worth] €4 million at year.”

This would be worth around £70,000 a week, and this combined with a potential fee of nearly half that agreed last summer could make Fekir a bargain signing.

Liverpool play Lyon in a pre-season friendly in Geneva on July 31, which Les Progres suggest could help smooth over the deal.