Arsenal Transfer Rumors 2017: Gunners Close in on £45 Million Deal for Monaco's Thomas Lemar
Monaco's Ligue 1 title winning squad is slowly getting picked apart by the top clubs in Europe this summer. Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy have already left them to join Manchester City, and Tiemoué Bakayoko has signed with Chelsea as well. Monaco will try to hold on to Kylian Mbappé, but they may lose another one of their key players to a club in the Premier League before the transfer window closes.
According to The Sun, there appears to be a breakthrough in negotiations and Arsenal are now on the brink of signing Thomas Lemar. The Gunners are reportedly prepared to lodge an improved bid worth £45 million to entice Monaco to part ways with the winger/midfielder.
"Monaco were hoping the huge numbers quoted would deter Arsenal and help them keep Lemar for another season on the premise his value would increase further to spark a bidding war," Warren Haughton wrote in his report for The Sun.
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"Lemar featured for Monaco in their last pre-season game at Benfica and will hope to get the green light to complete his switch to the Premier League before they face Paris-Saint Germain in Morocco this Saturday in the Trophee des champions," he added.
The Gunners have reportedly reached an agreement over personal terms with the French footballer earlier this month. Monaco have turned down Arsenal's previous bids for Lemar, but they may be ready to give in and allow the midfielder to make the switch.
Arsenal have already sign Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac this summer as club manager Arsène Wenger continues to build a squad that can challenge for the Premier League title next season. Lemar would be another welcome addition to the squad.
In other news, The Sun's Dean Allam has reported that the Gunners are not going to allow Alexis Sánchez to leave even if they sign Lemar.
