Real Betis forward Nabil Fekir has hit out at Liverpool over the nature of his failed transfer to Anfield in the summer of 2018.
The France international was notably close to joining the Reds over a year ago, before the deal broke down in slightly mysterious circumstances.
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This was reported at the time by the Telegraph and others, with Liverpool’s official reasons unknown, though it was suggested it could be to do with Fekir’s previous injury problems.
Speaking about it now, however, the former Lyon star is clearly angry at the way the Merseyside giants handled things, as he slammed ‘lies’ and ‘excuses’ from the club over suddenly changing their minds about completing the transfer.
“Lots of lies were told and they affected me,” he said in an interview with L’Equipe, as translated by the Daily Star.
“Especially those told about my family. It hurt them and me. Especially when you know that’s what being told is false.
“What was said is not the truth. My knee is good – I had a quick medical check at Clairefontaine (France’s national training base) – my knee wasn’t even mentioned. If my knee had been in such a bad state, would Aulas (Lyon chairman Jean-Michel) have made [a huge offer to keep me]?
“But the worst thing is the idea that people could suggest that it’s because of my family that the transfer didn’t happen. It’s a lie. But you have to live with it.
“You want the truth? Even I don’t know – I promise you! I did my medical and then [Liverpool] decided not to sign me. At some point they wanted to have me believe it was because of my knee – but an excuse needed to be found.
“The medical tests that I did at Clairefontaine were very clear – my knee is perfectly fine and I feel fine. There are no issues at all with my knee.”
There are two sides to every story of course, but this doesn’t exactly paint Liverpool in the best light, and many of their fans will no doubt be wondering why they decided against signing such a quality player, who has since left Lyon and shone in La Liga with Real Betis.