Fekir teases his ex-agent Bernès over his aborted transfer to Liverpool
In an interview with beIN Sports, Nabil Fekir returned to his aborted transfer to Liverpool in the summer of 2018. The current Betis Sevilla player charges again his former agent, Jean-Pierre Bernès, who had accused a member of the Fekir’s family for intervening at the last moment in the negotiations.
« Everything did not go as I would have liked, but it is fate ». The story is well known: in the summer of 2018, Nabil Fekir is very close to joining Liverpool but the leaders of the Reds cancel the transfer at the last minute. The Lyonnais’ right knee – whose cruciate ligaments gave way three years earlier – is then implicated in the failure of the operation, but the reality is quite different.
In an interview with beIN Sports, Fekir agreed to come back to this episode. The world champion regrets « things that have been said at this level that have hurt my family », accusing again « [son] agent « , who no longer is, Jean-Pierre Bernès.
« It’s fuck-up »
« One day before playing against the United States (in a friendly match before the start of the 2018 World Cup, editor’s note), my agent said to me: » We sign tomorrow. « And me in my head I was going to sign after the World. It’s bullshit, but it’s not serious, it’s like that, ”said Fekir, specifying that“ nothing ”his family intervened in the transfer.
Comments already made by Fekir in an interview with L’Équipe in September 2019. Bernès responded to the French international by criticizing at the microphone of Canal + the behavior of Fekir during the medical examination: « I was ashamed ». Above all, the players’ agent had denounced the intervention of a member of Fekir’s family when everything was ready for the signing of the Lyonnais at Liverpool for five seasons: « On the day of the signing, we saw a lawyer arrive and Nabil’s brother-in-law who said: « Stop everything, the discussions have to start over. » It was surreal, it felt like a Walt Disney film. «
A conflict that has lasted for two years
« The transfer to Liverpool fell apart for two reasons. The first was his knee even if the English leaders were ready to make an effort on the subject. The second is the irruption of a foreign pseudo-lawyer the file which requested that negotiations be restarted from the beginning at the time of signing « , Bernès told L’Équipe in response to Fekir’s interview.
Ultimately, the transfer will not take place and Fekir will join Sevilla Betis a year later, having changed agent. Since then, the two men have replied regularly on this subject, while the French perform well in La Liga and would be closely followed by FC Barcelona with a view to a transfer during the next summer transfer window.
