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[Photos] Key target poses with Arsenal fans as Wenger lines-up record bid
Another day and another update on our pursuit of Thomas Lemar and it seems Arsene Wenger is lining-up a fresh offer for the Monaco attacker while the youngster has been snapped posing for photos with Arsenal fans.
Lemar has emerged as a prime target in recent weeks with The Sun reporting yesterday that the 21-year-old is ready to push through a move to the Emirates as Monaco continue to dig their heels in.
The Ligue 1 champions have already lost Tiemoue Bakayoko and Bernado Silva while Benjamin Mendy and Kylian Mbappe have joined Lemar in being strongly linked with moves this summer, so understandably they don’t want to see their team ripped apart any further.
According to the Daily Mail, after seeing two previous bids rejected, the boss is ready to test Monaco’s resolve with a new offer and we’re expected to smash our transfer record for the second time this summer.
Wenger has already splashed out £53m on the signing of Alexandre Lacazette but the newspaper suggests Monaco may demand up to £80m including add ons for Lemar’s signature.
I personally don’t think we’ll have to pay that kind of money but it seems Arsene is ready to offload up to eight squad players in order to help raise extra money to fund our swoop for Lemar.
The Daily Mail claim that defenders Keiran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy are all set to leave the Emirates over the coming weeks while goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is in Italy finalising a move to Juventus.
Midfielder Jack Wilshere is also being tipped to leave the club after struggling to overcome his injury problems while the Mail claim both Olivier Giroud and Lucas Perez could depart this summer.
Those eight players could raise around £100m and release millions in wages which would go a long way to help fund our move for Lemar and leave plenty left over to secure further signings.
The French international has done little to dampen speculation linking him with a move to north London after being snapped posing for photos with young Arsenal fans while at Monaco’s pre-season training camp in Switzerland.
READ: Arsenal make move for Serie A star
The young supporter seemed certain Lemar was Arsenal-bound following their impromptu photo-shoot but obviously we can’t take the word of an unknown fan as gospel that a deal is in the pipeline!
OMG! I met Thomas Lemar in Saillon, Switzerland. He seemed really happy taking photos with me. Definitely Arsenal bound! pic.twitter.com/Xec4OhzRb7
— ArsenalVideosHD (@AVHD_Official) July 18, 2017
I asked him if he is joining Arsenal, he gave me a smile and walked away. Im positive he will sign after Monacos trip to Switzerland! pic.twitter.com/65uBBaufAq
— ArsenalVideosHD (@AVHD_Official) July 18, 2017
We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but it seems Wenger is determined to get his man so let’s pray we can persuade Monaco to cash-in as Lemar would be a hugely exciting addition to the squad.
The attacker enhanced his reputation as one of the best youngsters in Europe after scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists to help fire Monaco to the title last season and he has plenty of time to develop even further at Arsenal.