Liverpool loses out to Chelsea in purchase of Ligue 1 Star

Chelsea have moved ahead of Liverpool and other interested clubs in the race to sign highly rated French forward Nabil Fekir.

Popular French media outlet L’Equipe claim that the Blues have already sent super-agent Pini Zahavi to initiate talks for the 25-year-old.

Nabil Fekir has been the subject of various transfer reports involving clubs like German champions Bayern Munich, Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid and the Premier League duo of Chelsea and Liverpool.

The Lyon star came close to joining Liverpool in the summer only for the move to collapse.

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Both clubs had agreed on a sum of £53m for his signature before the Reds pulled out of the deal at the last minute due to concerns over his knee.

He recovered from that setback to be a part of the 23-man France squad that won this summer’s FIFA World Cup tournament in Russia via a 4-2 victory over fellow European nation Croatia in their final clash in July.

Spanish media outlet Sport say that La Liga champions Barcelona are also interested in the player and that it would take around £67m to prise him away from the club.

Nabil Fekir has a Lyon contract that runs until the end of next season.