Liverpool’s pursuit of Nabil Fekir has been abruptly ended in talks with Lyon.
The France international was set to complete a £48.4 million switch to the Reds this weekend after significant progress had been made in negotiations.
Such was the advanced stage of a proposed move to Anfield that Fekir had conducted an introductory interview with the club’s in-house channel LFCTV.
But concerns over the midfielder’s injury history, after knee ligament damage in 2015, prompted Liverpool to delay the planned announcement of his arrival.
Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Association, had hinted that a deal would still be finalised before Fekir travelled to the World Cup next week.
However Lyon released an official statement on Saturday which scuppered those plans as the deal was formally called off by the Ligue 1 outfit.
“Transfer negotiations with Liverpool and Nabil Fekir for the transfer of the captain of OL have not succeeded and Olympique Lyonnais have decided to put an end to this negotiation tonight at 8pm,” read the statement.
“Although Liverpool have been the priority of a possible transfer for Nabil, Olympique Lyonnais is delighted to be able to count on the presence of our captain, who is a leading player for the 2018-19 season when the club will play in the Champions League.”