Club chief confirms Arsenal’s prime-target had interest in lucrative transfer

Arsenal fans may have been left disappointed by the end to the Gunners transfer window, as Arsene Wenger’s side failed to add to the early additions of Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette- the latter of whom cost a club-record fee.

Lacazette’s personal record would not have stood for long if Arsenal were to get their way elsewhere in the transfer window though as the North London giants were very vocal in their pursuit of Monaco ace Thomas Lemar, seeing a €100m (£92m) deal fall through on Deadline Day.

After being chased by Arsenal all summer, as well as attracting interest from Liverpool, 21-year-old French international Lemar elected to stay with the French champions for another year- although Wenger confirmed over the weekend his side would return in the future to land his compatriot.

Further comments have now been made on the transfer saga, as Sky Sports quotes Monaco’s vice-president Vadim Vasilyev confirmed that the youngster had interest in moving to the Premier League.

“It was not easy. Thomas wanted to go to Arsenal and to Liverpool, but we had discussions and we took a communal decision so that he could stay here. He is a very important player for us. We could not have sold him, it would have affected the entire team and the individuals.”

Monaco’s firm stance in the market came after the defending Ligue 1 champions saw plenty of departures from their title winning side last season, with Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva all moving to the Premier League whilst young superstar Kylian Mbappe, a target for Arsenal, was lured to Paris Saint-Germain.