La Liga star set to snub Newcastle United after ‘impossible’ admission

Real Betis midfielder Nabil Fekir will snub any offer from Newcastle United after insisting he does not want to leave the La Liga club.

The former Lyon star joined Betis in the summer of 2019 and has gone on to make over 120 appearances over the last three and a half seasons. He was also part of the Betis side that lifted last season’s Copa del Rey with a penalty shoot-out win against Valencia in April and has also helped his side progress through a Europa League group containing Roma, HJK Helsinki and Ludogorots during the first half of the current campaign.

He has come close to a move to the Premier League in the recent past after Arsenal and Liverpool reportedly made offers, with the latter seeing a deal collapse at the last minute amid suggestions his agent and family had blocked the move. However, Fekir refuted those claims in an interview given to French newspaper L’Equipe.

He said: “Lots of lies were told and they affected me. Especially those told about my family. It hurt them and me. Especially when you know that’s what being told is false.”

“What was said is not the truth. My knee is good, I had a quick medical check at Clairefontaine, my knee wasn’t even mentioned. If my knee had been in such a bad state, would Lyon have made (an offer to keep me)?

“But the worst thing is the idea that people could suggest that it’s because of my family that the transfer didn’t happen. It’s a lie. But you have to live with it.”

His form at Betis has led to a long-standing interest from Newcastle, with Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo suggesting the Magpies have ‘been ringing’ since 2020 and revealing they were unsuccessful with a £30m offer for the France international during the summer transfer window. Significantly, the report states Newcastle have made further offers for Fekir in recent months but are likely to be met with the same response as the midfielder “enjoys a good personal, sentimental and professional moment” - even describing the possibility of a move to Tyneside as ‘impossible’.