Long-time Liverpool target Nabil Fekir has arrived in Seville ahead of a cut-price €20m move from Lyon to La Liga side Real Betis.
The 26-year-old World Cup winner was on the brink of joining Liverpool for £50m last summer, before the deal fell through amid concerns about a knee injury.
Lyon president Jeal-Michel Aulas is also not the most straightforward to deal with, and despite talk of the Reds rekindling their interest they decided not to go back in for the French playmaker.
With just a year left on his contract, and with Fekir adamant he would not sign a new deal, a cut-price move was available but both Liverpool and Arsenal did not follow through with reported interest.
Instead, it is Spanish side Real Betis who have taken the plunge to sign him on a five-year deal, with reports that the initial transfer fee is as little as €20m, with a possibly further €10m in bonuses and with a 20 percent sell-on clause.
📸 EN IMÁGENES | La llegada de @NabilFekir y su hermano Yassin para ultimar su fichaje pro el @RealBetis.
— ElDesmarque Betis (@eldesmarque_rbb) July 22, 2019
[vía @kikohurtsevilla] pic.twitter.com/2BNygXTrcI
New Lyon boss Sylvinho had previously said Fekir was on the verge of leaving, and was disappointed to be losing a quality player.
"It is likely that he will leave, he is in the negotiation stage," Sylvinho said. "For him and the club's good, I hope it will be resolved as quickly as possible.
"He is a wonderful player, a very high level footballer, just seeing him drive the ball to training is a joy, and I take this opportunity to publicly wish him a happy birthday.
"Of course we will miss him."
A side note of Fekir joining Real Betis is that Argentine playmaker Giovani Lo Celso could now well confirm his much talked about move to Tottenham, now the Spanish side have a ready-made replacement.
