Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim has revealed the French club could be forced to sell Thomas Lemar because the ‘numbers today are incredibly big’.
Arsenal and Liverpool have been heavily linked with a move for the 22-year-old winger this month, with the Gunners identifying him as a potential replacement for the wantaway Alexis Sanchez, while Liverpool are keen to bring him in to fill the void left by Phillipe Coutinho.
Monaco lost a few of their key players last summer, most noticeably Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint-Germain and Tiemoue Bakayoko to Chelsea, and will be desperate to keep hold of Lemar despite increasing interest.
The Ligue 1 club value Lemar at around £61million, but according to RMC Sport, as reported by the Daily Mirror, may be willing to lower their asking price.
Speaking to the press on Thursday about the possibility of letting Lemar go, Jardim said:
‘Today, the market is open. You know how crazy the market is.
‘Things happen that even a club like Monaco cannot say no to. It happened to Liverpool [with Coutinho]. Things are as they are.
‘The numbers today are incredibly big. Everything can change. The things I can say today are not true tomorrow.
‘In the last two transfer windows, last summer and this winter, the numbers have gone up enormously. I still want to keep Lemar.
‘If I stay here for 10 years I want Lemar to stay with me for 10 years. He is young, he can still play for 10 years. He has a lot of qualities, I like him a lot.’
Reports last summer suggested Arsenal offered Monaco £92million for Lemar which was turned down by the player as it is thought he favoured a move to Liverpool instead.
