Chelsea Transfer News: Nabil Fekir Targeted amid Latest Rumours
Chelsea are reportedly "accelerating" a move for Lyon forward Nabil Fekir as new Blues manager Maurizo Sarri looks to complete his squad before Thursday's transfer deadline.
According to France Football (h/t Get French Football News), Liverpool are unlikely to return for the Frenchman after their move for him broke down earlier in the summer. Chelsea potentially have a clear run at Fekir, but they have yet to lodge an official bid.
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Fekir, 25, was phenomenal for Lyon last term, netting 18 goals and providing eight assists in 30 appearances as they finished third in Ligue 1.
He went on to play a small role for France as they won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, appearing six times from the bench.
Chelsea need added creativity in their squad as they struggled for goals last term.
When they won the Premier League in 2016-17, they netted 85 times in the English top flight, while they scored just 62 goals in 2017-18 as they finished fifth.
Alvaro Morata's struggles were a key reason for Chelsea's lack of goals—he managed only 11 in 31 Premier League appearances.
But none of Chelsea's front men were that prolific, with Eden Hazard the only other player in the squad to reach double figures as he netted 12 in the English top flight.
Fekir would be an excellent new goalscoring outlet for Chelsea, and he would also likely enhance the effectiveness of Morata, Hazard and Willian.
There is no guarantee he will necessarily be open to a move to west London, not least as Chelsea are not in the UEFA Champions League in 2018-19 while Lyon are.
Fekir also made it clear recently he is very happy at the Groupama Stadium, per OLTV (h/t GFFN): "As you can see, I am in Lyon. I am very happy here. But the transfer window is still long and everything goes very quickly in football. We don’t know what will happen in the future but I am very happy at Lyon.
"I feel brilliant in this squad. We have very good players, a great atmosphere. It is a bit like the French national team: a mixture of youngster and older players, with some players more experienced than others. We have a good group, very homogeneous. We feel good together and I hope that Lyon will have a very good season."
