The player Liverpool were so close to signing in 2018 they did all the interviews | OneFootball

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There's so much that goes into the transfer of one player from one club to another. It's not simply a case of accepting a transfer fee and it's a done deal. There are personal terms to be agreed which include the often-complicated image rights, medicals to be conducted and social media content to be shot and shared.

Gone are the days when fans would discover transfers that have happened in newspapers the following day. Nowadays, fans are fully aware of potential signings weeks in advance thanks to social media rumours, before social media footage and images are leaked to show that a deal is close to being completed.

In modern football, there simply isn't a transfer that catches us by surprise these days. We know and hear about it long in advance.

It also means that, if we've heard a club is interested in signing a player for weeks and a transfer eventually doesn't happen, it leaves us wondering why. Of course, it could be for a variety of reasons, with the bids not being sufficient enough to accept an offer. That's when a transfer fails at the first hurdle.

When Liverpool's deal for Nabil Fekir collapsed

But what's the latest a transfer has ever collapsed? Well, Liverpool's pursuit of Nabil Fekir in 2018 must be pretty close.

Jurgen Klopp's side looked set to sign midfielder from Lyon as a replacement from Philippe Coutinho. After 31 goal contributions in the 2017/18 campaign for the French club, Liverpool fans were extremely excited at the prospect of Fekir.

Liverpool were ready to spend big, too. They had just lost the Champions League final against Real Madrid and they eventually finished the summer with Naby Keita for £48m, Alisson for £67 million and Fabinho for £42m.

But long before the end of the transfer window, a deal worth £52.8 million had been struck for Fekir and he was heading to Anfield. The club's medical staff traveled to Clairefontaine, where he was on international duty with France, to oversee a medical.

And the ultimate proof that a transfer was set to be announced emerged as leaked images of Fekir's club interview were being shared across social media. An official announcement was incoming.

However, in the eleventh hour, the deal collapsed. Out of nowhere, Fekir wasn't joining Liverpool. But why? Immediate suggestions were that Fekir's knee was to blame. He had a history of knee injuries and it was believed a discovery during the medical scuppered the deal.

But that wasn't true, according to the player himself who later said: "I saw plenty of things which weren’t true," Fekir told The Times. "It was said the knee stopped me going to Liverpool but that wasn’t true.

"I went to Clairefontaine, and they did all the proof [medical] and the knee was fine. I had a problem with my agent, my adviser. It was the agent responsible for the deal not going through."

But just how close was Fekir to joining Liverpool. Well, in an interview in 2021, he admitted it was pretty much done.

"Everything was closed," Fekir told BetisTV. "I passed all the interviews, I spoke with Jurgen Klopp, he told me that he loved me. We all did it and, when we were about to sign, there were problems with my representative and the negotiation broke down.

"Of course I was disappointed not to go to Liverpool, very disappointed because Liverpool are a great club. I met the coach, Jurgen Klopp, and it went well.

"After meeting him, I wanted to join Liverpool even more. He’s a good person. It was really difficult to deal with as I really wanted to go to Liverpool. It was a moment that was not easy for me."

What happened to Fekir after his Liverpool move collapsed?

While Liverpool went on to win the Champions League the following year, Fekir put his disappointment behind him and stayed at Lyon.

As Lyon captain, he impressed again with 12 goals in all competitions as they finished third in Ligue 1. He scored and assisted during a 2-1 victory away to Manchester City in the Champions League in September, showing Liverpool fans what they had missed out on. However, it was evident there were some fitness issues with him missing nine league matches during the season at different points of the campaign.

Despite those doubts, Real Betis decided he was worth the risk and offered him a four-year contract after agreeing a deal worth €19.75 million and €10 million in add-ons. And that's where Fekir remains after four seasons in Spain.

And he's had a pretty successful spell at Betis, where he's played almost 150 times and scored 28 goals. He also helped the club win the Copa del Rey in 2022. In his first campaign, the side were led by Alexis Trujillo and could only finish 15th. However, since the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini, Betis have finished sixth, fifth and sixth in La Liga.

Fekir also appeared to get over his injury troubles in the first three seasons, missing a combined 15 league matches across the three campaigns. However, last season, Fekir suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in February and missed the rest of the campaign. Before that, though, Fekir - who is now 30 - signed a new deal at the club that will keep him there until 2026. He's also been capped 25 times by France at international level.

So, did Liverpool miss out on Fekir? There's no doubt he's gone on to have a very good career with Lyon and Real Betis. Those initial concerns - if there were concerns - about his knee injury appear to be unfounded. Although it will be interesting to see how he recovers from his serious injury in the final months of last season.

As for Liverpool, they've coped just fine without Fekir, winning the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and League Cup since the deal fell through. But there is no doubt they never fully replaced the creativity of Coutinho and Fekir would have been the ideal candidate for that. The deal for Keita was pretty disastrous, with the Guinean having now left the club on a free transfer and Klopp's men are in something of a midfield crisis right now despite the recent signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.