Once upon a time, Nabil Fekir came within a whisker of joining Liverpool.
The silky Frenchman, fresh from a thoroughly impressive 23-goal season with Lyon, attracted an almost unparalleled level of hype as whispers of a move to Anfield intensified.
In the end, the deal fell through. The popular narrative is that Liverpool pulled out over last-minute fears over Fekir’s dodgy knee. The player, however, disputes this.
But a now-dominant Liverpool have not looked back, and while Jurgen Klopp’s Reds do not miss the playmaker’s smooth style, Fekir’s career has taken a more interesting path.
After another year in France, he joined Real Betis last summer. And after a productive spell in Spain, Fekir is being tipped with another move to England, with reports linking Arsenal to the 26-year-old.
That Fekir is attracting interest once more comes as no surprise. After a difficult final year at Lyon, he has been rejuvenated under Rubi at Betis, scoring seven goals and adding three assists in 22 appearances this season.
That included a goal (and a red card) against Barcelona and an assist in Betis’ victory over Real Madrid.
Beyond that, Fekir has further enhanced his reputation as one of European football’s most effective dribblers, averaging 3.3 successful runs per 90 minutes this season.
The only player with better numbers? Lionel Messi.
Fekir certainly has not lost that ability to turn on a sixpence and drive through midfield. It’s a skill few players can execute with such precision and consistency.
However, given the ease with which he can glide past opponents, the France international hasn’t always created big chances quite as frequently. In fact, whereas he averaged 1.93 chances created per 90 minutes during the 2018/19 Ligue 1 season, that has dropped to 1.27 in La Liga.
It is important to note, though, that Fekir’s role at Betis is slightly different to how he functioned at Lyon. In Rubi’s system, while he is deployed in a central role, Fekir has often popped up on the right with Sergio Canales bearing the brunt of the creative burden.
At Arsenal, Mikel Arteta would presumably look to use Fekir in the No.10 role, an area where he has the potential to prise open defences with ease.
His creativity combined with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s centre-forward play is an enticing prospect.
With Mesut Ozil set to turn 32 this year, it’s only natural that Arteta should be looking for potential long-term replacements.
There would be concerns over Fekir’s chequered injury history, but at Betis, while he has missed three games due to muscular problems, there has been no significant layoff due to a problem with his knee.
With the 2018 World Cup-winner set to turn 27 this summer, his best years are probably still ahead of him too.
A wonderfully effective and crowd-pleasing operator, Fekir has the skill set to bolster an already potent attacking force at the Emirates and inject the side with fresh playmaking impetus in a style that differs from Ozil.
However, given his likely high wage demands and premium price tag, the Arsenal board will have to decide if he is worth a tilt or whether the money could be better spent on different areas of Arteta’s squad.
