Sports

Reason why Thomas Lemar Rejected Arsenal Move

Published

7 years ago

September 2, 2017

Arsene Wenger has admitted Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar rejected a Deadline Day move to Arsenal after the north London side made a club-record £92m bid.

The 21-year old Frenchman was at the centre of a last-minute approach by Arsenal following Manchester City’s £60m offer for Alexis Sanchez.

Wenger maintained throughout the summer that Sanchez would not depart the Emirates without a suitable replacement taking his place, and the Arsenal boss admitted Lemar turned down the chance to move to Premier League on Thursday.

“The player has chosen to stay at Monaco,” Wenger told beIN SPORTS.

“I know we live in an era of transparency but at some stage, to respect everybody, you have to not talk too much about that.

“You have to respect what happens on the negotiation side.”

Despite Manchester City’s move for Sanchez, Wenger confirmed the move was “not close” and is confident the Chilean international remains 100% committed to Arsenal.

“It was not very close, it’s very difficult for me to speak about that because what I want now is the player to focus on his career, on his season and Arsenal,” he said.

Arsenal’s transfer business came to a close without a Deadline Day arrival, though the club did bring in Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a deal rising to £52m in July – while defender Sead Kolasinac joined from Schalke on a free.