Could Liverpool get its star attacking midfield target after all?
That’s what seems to be the case, as the agent for Lyon and France midfielder Nabil Fekir told French TV channel LCI Monday evening that negotiations aren’t over between Liverpool and Lyon.
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“He didn’t sign because um... it is not over! This is not the end of the story,” Fekir’s agent, Jean-Pierre Bernes reportedly said.
It was just two weeks ago when Lyon president Jean-Michael Aulas stated that Fekir, Lyon’s captain, would remain with the club for the upcoming season, after negotiations with Liverpool fell through. According to the Liverpool Echo, the Reds wanted a second opinion on a previous knee injury, and had balked at the $70 million price tag.
But now it appears Liverpool and Aulas could still be in conversations to try and find a mutually accepted fee.
At the same time, stirring up transfer drama is in Bernes interest, as it could drive other teams into the race to sign Fekir and raise his transfer fee, meaning more money to him, Fekir (if he gets a cut) and Lyon. Watch this space for more to come during and after the World Cup.
Here’s some more transfer rumors from across the Premier League and Europe:
Chelsea: No new signings until manager crisis resolved
It appears Chelsea fans will have to wait until they have a new coach in house - or that current coach Antonio Conte is given the proper backing - until new signings join.
That’s at least according to a report from The Times of London, which states that Chelsea targets Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich and Jean Michael Seri of Nice want confirmation of who will be Chelsea’s manager next season before they commit to Chelsea.
#chelsea's managerial stasis is hindering their transfer plans, with several targets reluctant to commit while Conte's future is unresolved.https://t.co/F5B3wRdQac
— Matt Hughes (@MattHughesDM) June 19, 2018
Conte has been rumored to be leaving at the end of this season for basically the last 12 months, or since he signed a new contract at Chelsea that increased his salary but not the years on his contract. Conte is now heading into the final year of his contract, and multiple reports claim Chelsea has looked at bringing in fellow Italian Maurizio Sarri from Napoli, who is now sidelined himself by the Italian club after it hired Carlo Ancelotti.
For the time being, Sarri is still on the Napoli payroll and it will take a significant chunk of change to buy him out of his contract, as well as Conte.
So the wait for a resolution continues.
Buffon to join PSG this week
After playing in four straight World Cups, veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon finally has a summer off, thanks to Italy’s failure to make the 2018 World Cup.
But in his free time, Buffon looks like he’s set to commit his future to a new club, after announcing he’d leave Juventus, in May.
Per Sky Sports News, Buffon is set to make his move to Paris Saint-Germain official this week.
It’s unclear as of now what PSG will do with it’s current goalkeeping duo, Kevin Trapp and Alphonse Areola, both of whom are at the World Cup with Germany and France, respectively. Areola, just 25, took the starting job in Ligue 1 from Trapp this season, who could be looking for a way out.
But it would still be tough to see Areola replaced after one season as the starter by Buffon, who likely will only play one or two seasons more, as he’s turning 41-years old next January.