Liverpool have spent the summer searching for attacking reinforcements following a wave of high-profile free departures, with Mohamed Salah's contract expiry setting off a chain reaction that also saw Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate walk away for nothing, eventually landing at Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid.
New manager Andoni Iraola used his very first press conference at the club to flag a winger as a priority signing, and while the search continues, Victor Munoz remains his only attacking addition to date — arriving after Liverpool triggered his £34.5m release clause at Osasuna, a deal that followed the earlier £60m capture of Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes.
Real Madrid's move for RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande has taken Liverpool's top attacking target off the board, with the Reds' own €100m offer having fallen short, while Paris Saint-Germain's £145m valuation of Bradley Barcola — a player thought unwilling to sign a new contract at the Parc des Princes — has made that deal similarly difficult to complete.
That has turned Liverpool's attention more firmly towards Fernandez-Pardo, with L'Equipe reporting Arsenal, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are also monitoring the 21-year-old after his performances in every one of Belgium's group games at this summer's World Cup.
Any move is complicated, however, by developments at Lille itself: Fernandez-Pardo has this week submitted a formal transfer request, having changed representatives for the second time in two years, only for club president Olivier Letang to flatly reject the idea of a sale.
Letang has told the player and his camp directly that he remains under contract until 2029 and is not for sale, with Lille reluctant to weaken their attack further given Hamza Igamane's continued absence through a serious knee injury and Olivier Giroud turning 40 in September.
Fernandez-Pardo, who can operate through the middle or from either flank, arrived at Lille from Gent in 2024 for an initial €10m and has contributed 12 goals and 11 assists in 71 appearances since, a rise in stock that gives Lille every incentive to hold firm even as his camp pushes for an exit.