Arsenal set to finally land Thomas Lemar, Monaco seeking replacement

Arsenal set to finally land Thomas Lemar, Monaco seeking replacement

Arsenal are now just days away from commencing their new season with the clash against Chelsea in the Community Shield but transfer speculation will continue right up until the deadline at the end of August, meaning there’s still plenty of room for changes to be made.

The Gunners have already parted with a club-record sum to bring Alexandre Lacazette in from Lyon, as well as landing Sead Kolasinac on a free-transfer from Schalke, and Arsene Wenger has had his sights set on one man in particular ever since concluding a deal for his new number nine.


Monaco’s 21-year-old French international Thomas Lemar has topped Arsenal’s wish-list for the past month but Wenger has found it difficult to negotiate an exit with the principality side, especially as they’ve already lost the likes of Bernardo Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Benjamin Mendy.

However, the latest reports suggest Arsenal have finally reached a breakthrough on a deal as it’s indicated that Thomas Lemar is keen on moving to North London, with Monaco in the market for a replacement for the talented wide-man.

The Ligue 1 champions, who kick-off the defence of their title tonight against Toulouse, are in-talks with former Monaco winger Rachid Ghezzal regarding a potential transfer to the club, with the Algerian available for free after being released by Monaco’s Ligue 1 rivals.

Wenger has made it clear to fans he remains in the market for further additions and Arsenal will continue to chase Lemar right up until the end of the window, though Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez stands as a potential alternative if things don’t go their way.

Speaking last week about further additions, Wenger said:

‘The difficulty is to bring top-level players in because you pay a huge amount of money for very normal players at the moment. As well, all the big clubs are chasing the same players and that provokes huge inflation.’

‘There’s the usual acceleration in the final part of August. But I think you have always to be on alert every day, because a good opportunity might turn up.’

The biggest news at Arsenal will continue to be Alexis Sanchez’ future though and Wenger made it clear after an open training session at the Emirates Stadium yesterday that the Chilean will not be going anywhere, handing the Gunners a crucial boost ahead of the new campaign.