AS Monaco’s vice president has revealed why star man Thomas Lemar rejected the chance to join Arsenal.
In a report by The Independent, Vadim Vasilyev has argued that Lemar wanted to join Liverpool and Arsenal, however an agreement was made with the player that he would not leave as it would severely damage the club.
Thomas wanted to go to Arsenal and to Liverpool, but we had discussions and we took a joint 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 lost Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Mendy to Europe’s elite this summer, and any more would have rubbed salt in Monaco’s wounds. They have brought in some talent, like Youri Tielemans, but Lemar is said to have agreed with the club that he would not leave.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has come under scrutiny at failing to land Lemar, as well as receiving stick from Manchester City fans for their failure to secure the signing of Alexis Sanchez.
He has since insisted that the club will continue with their pursuit of Lemar once the transfer window re-opens in January after bidding £92 million on deadline day, but running out of time to complete a deal.
