17 hours ago
Arsenal swap deal suddenly collapsed with £92m target left gutted by mess up
Arsene Wenger was on the verge of completing a £92million move for Thomas Lemar in 2017, but the move collapsed at the eleventh hour, leaving the French star disappointed
The collapse of Arsenal 's club-record deal to sign Thomas Lemar for £92million left the France international gutted. The then-Monaco star played an integral role in the French side's surprising Ligue 1 title win in the 2016-17 season.
While the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva were all allowed to depart the club in the summer of 2017, Lemar looked to be next as the move to the Gunners beckoned on Deadline Day.
The Premier League side had agreed on what would have been a British transfer record fee at the time of £92m to sign the winger, but it was dependent on the sale of Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City on the same day.
Pep Guardiola's side had put in a bid for the Chilean on the last day of the window which would have allowed Arsene Wenger to use the proceeds from the sale to buy Lemar.
However, the move quickly unravelled after Lemar was set to go on international duty later that day. As he wasn't given enough notice about the transfer by Monaco, the move collapsed as he stayed put in France for an extra year while Sanchez remained at the Emirates despite having a deal in place with City.
Ex-Gunners chief Dick Law revealed the details behind the breakdown of the move when speaking exclusively to Goal in 2019. "There were no formal offers for Sanchez until the end of the window when the Manchester City one came in," he said. "So then you run into a pretty simple calculation.
"It was the end of the window, literally the last day, and we wanted to be in a competitive position for the Champions League the next season. Were we more likely to compete for a Champions League position with Sanchez or without him? The decision was, we would be more competitive with him.
"We did try to get Thomas Lemar that day, but it didn't get done. We thought we had Lemar and then that would have meant Sanchez to Manchester City. It was as simple operation of using the Sanchez money to pay for Lemar.
"We had a deal done for Lemar, Sanchez had a deal done with City. But Lemar had been called up for France and Monaco had played the thing out and they ended up playing it out too long. They didn't send a clear signal to the player before he left for the national team and when they did send that signal, Lemar was already there with the French national team on the day of their international match and the deal fell apart.
"It was a shame because it would have been interesting to see Lemar at Arsenal, but you have to move on from these decisions and circumstances. You can't sit and dwell on what might have been."
After staying put at Monaco for the 2017/18 season, Lemar was asked about the failed transfer during the season, and he admitted his sadness that it didn't work out. "I am not going to hide it; I was a bit disappointed," Lemar said in 2018.
"But there is no point fixating on that. I have continued to work so that these clubs might come back for me in the following transfer window." His work certainly paid off as he signed for Atletico Madrid that summer for a reported fee of £62m and remains there to this day.
Since leaving Monaco, he has, however, largely failed to live up to expectations - which no doubt has softened the blow for Arsenal - and has just 10 goals and 19 assists to his name from 186 appearances for Atletico.
He was converted into a central midfielder by Diego Simeone in 2020, but has since struggled with injuries and form and has consequently made just 11 appearances across all competitions in the last two seasons combined.
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