Undoubtedly one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer, the France forward Nabil Fekir dominated the headlines this transfer window, frenetically being little to some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Over on English shores, two teams who were desperate to make the Olympique Lyonnais captain part of their move forward towards the Premier League title were Liverpool and Chelsea, the former even managing to produce press photos when they were on the brink of announcing the player before the deal fell through.
The Express picks up on reports that because of the success in keeping several key players, Chelsea themselves backed out of any potential deal. Retaining Eden Hazard and Willian were obvious priorities.
Fekir was granted extended reprieve from club football following his exertions in Russia with the successful national team who went on to win the second World Cup in their history.
Though Fekir only managed just over a cumulative hour of actual game time during the tournament, the Lyon talisman did feature in all but one game of France’s majestic run.
Now, in just the second game of the Ligue 1 season tonight, Fekir is set to make the bench for Bruno Génésio’s side as they travel to newly promoted side Reims.
Lyon opened up their campaign last week with a 2-0 home win over Amiens at the Groupama Stadium, a game in which Fekir did not feature.
After returning to team training this week, it’ll be interesting to see how much of an impact Fekir makes on the game tonight. Even with just a cameo appearance, Fekir has proven time and time again what an influence he can be for Les Gones.
The match kicks off at 19:45 tonight at the Stade Auguste-Delaune.
You can follow the match live with The Sportsman below.
