Arsenal are likely to be back in the market in January to make some big signings. With Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez seemingly set to leave the club, Arsene Wenger appears to be preparing to spend some serious money to replace his world-class duo.
It is well known that Arsenal actively tried to sign Thomas Lemar in the summer, but with their £92million bid coming too late in the window, Arsenal opted to keep hold of Alexis Sanchez and stall on their bid for Lemar.
But the Gunners are now said to still be watching Lemar ahead of a possible January move, or in the summer, when Monaco are likely to accept a bid in excess of £90million for the talented French left midfielder. Of course, currently occupying the left forward role for Arsenal is Alexis Sanchez, with the Chilean set to leave, Wenger appears to see Lemar as his heir. The 21-year-old is certainly not at the level of Alexis yet, but he does appear to have the potential to reach those heights.
Lemar has not been in as good form as he was last season, but that could make Monaco more open to a sale – and also potentially bring his price down a little. Arsenal scouts were watching Lemar when he netted his first Ligue 1 goal of the season at the weekend – a brilliant solo effort.
A summer move seems more likely than anything in January though.
Vadim Vasilyev, Monaco vice president, told the media that a January move would be extremely unlikely – though he did not completely rule it out.
“Definitely next summer will be something to look at, although you know in football there are no guarantees,” he said.
“We had some players who were supposed to leave this summer but didn’t leave because of X, Y, Z. I think it would be fair to say Thomas will have a fair chance to an exit next year.
Robert Pires has also suggested that a fee of £90million was excessive for Lemar – despite praising his ability. Sadly the market rate is very high at the moment so you might just have to pay what the selling club demand.