Atletico Madrid set to sign one-time Arsenal, Chelsea target Thomas Lemar after agreement in principle with Monaco

James Benge12 June 2018

Monaco have confirmed that they have reached an agreement in principle with Atletico Madrid for the sale of Thomas Lemar, once a target of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Though the final terms of the transfer have not been completed it seems certain Lemar will soon be an Atletico player, moving for a fee reported to be around £55million.

That constitutes a significant decrease on what Monaco could have earned last summer, when Arsenal had a £92m bid accepted in the final hours of the transfer window only for Lemar to pull out of the last-minute deal.

Arsenal would subsequently sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the former as part of a swap deal with Manchester United involving Alexis Sanchez, who was supposed to facilitate the arrival of Lemar by joining Manchester City.

Wenger remained keen on the French international, 22, but Arsenal’s interest faded after their manager departed. Chelsea had also kept tabs on Lemar but were beaten to the punch by Atleti, who said in a statement: “Atlético Madrid and Monaco have reached a principle of agreement for the transfer of Thomas Lemar to our club.

“In the coming days both clubs will work to close the definitive transfer agreement.

“The French international is focused on his team in Russia to compete in the World Cup that will start next Thursday, June 14.”

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