27-year-old confirms he completed a medical when Paul Joyce said he would join Liverpool for £52.8m

Nabil Fekir has opened up about how his £52.8m move to Liverpool in 2018 collapsed despite it appearing to be a done deal.

The Frenchman wound up moving to La Liga where he joined Real Betis for £11.7million and has dropped off the map in a sense.

Fekir was supposed to be Liverpool's replacement for Philippe Coutinho and the season prior to the transfer saga, he scored and assisted a combined total of 31 goals for Lyon.

Liverpool to seal Nabir Fekir deal on Friday. Initial £48.4million plus a further £4.4million in bonuses.

— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) June 7, 2018

Yet, the plug was pulled on a deal to sign him and while issues with his knee were cited as the reason, suggestions have been made that it had to do with his brother being problematic.

What has Fekir said about Liverpool?

It's important to understand how devastated Fekir must have been given that he had already conducted his first interview with Liverpool and had even pulled on the club's kit for photos to be taken.

He was then off to the World Cup where he didn't feature much in France's triumph all while the media was speculating about why the biggest moment in his career was taken away from him.

Speaking to L'Equipe, via the Liverpool ECHO, he said: "Lots of lies were told and they affected me. 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, my knee wasn’t even mentioned. If my knee had been in such a bad state, would [Lyon] have made [an 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."

Fekir move broke Liverpool Twitter

In all my time following Liverpool, I have never seen my Twitter feed move so quickly as millions of supporters reacted to what was a very confusing transfer saga at the time.

#FekirFriday went viral on all social media platforms but then the plug was pulled and it wasn't clear why until it was reported that an issue with his knee had curtailed the move.

It was later claimed by Fekir's former agent Jean-Pierre Bernes that his brother turned up and started demanding commission as one of his representatives.

This is reportedly the real reason why he never joined the club and given how important squad harmony is to Jurgen Klopp it doesn't surprise me looking back on it.

It was the most dramatic transfer saga we have seen in recent times and only Liverpool's apology to Southampton over Virgil van Dijk comes close.

Thankfully that one turned out okay as the Dutchman wound up moving to Anfield where he has since won the Champions League and the Premier League.