Arsenal ready to splash the cash again on £45million Monaco winger Thomas Lemar after breaking club record to sign Alexandre Lacazette

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Arsenal are ready to break their previous transfer record for the second time this month by lodging a £45m bid for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar in a bid to demonstrate their renewed intent to win the Premier League

That fee may even rise to £50m with additional payments, taking Arsenal’s spending in July alone to over £100m, after the £52.7m signing of Alexandre Lacezette from Lyon last week.

Arsenal, whose previous transfer record was Mesut Ozil’s £42m move from Real Madrid in 2013, had an initial bid of £30m turned down and returned with a second bid of £40m. 

Arsenal are ready to lodge a £45million bid for Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar

Such is their determination to land the attacking wide player, that they will come back again this week with a bid they hope will finally convince Monaco to sell.

The Champions League semi-finalists do not want to sell both Lemar and teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe this summer, having already lost Bernardo Silva to Manchester City and with Tiemoue Bakayoko on the verge of a move to Chelsea.

Arsenal had budgeted at least £100m to sign Mbappe and have been in detailed discussions with the player’s family about a move, though accept that he is likely to stay at Monaco or move to Real Madrid.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis promised to be a ‘catalyst for change’ this summer and though that focussed on new back-room staff, it has also applied to a most decisive approach in the transfer market, with Gazidis and transfer negotiator Dick Law determined to wrap up deals early, with Arsenal heading out in tour to Australia this week.

It would take Arsenal’s spending in July to over £100m after the signing of Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal may yet bid for a centre half as their final signing of the summer, with Virgil van Dijk a prime target after his move to Liverpool fell down. With left back Sead Kolasinc already signed, Arsenal would be close to completing their summer business if they could secure Lemar.

They will then focus on retaining Alexis Sanchez, whose representatives have sought out moves but who know that Arsenal will not sell the Chilean to either Manchester City or Chelsea, even though he only has one more year on his deal. The club will also resume talks with Mesut Ozil when he returns to training, and are hopeful he will sign his new £300,000 a week deal.

Negotiations with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who also has one year left on his deal, are in limbo but the club want him to stay and are keen to resume meetings with his representatives. Meanwhile, Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szszesny could all leave by the end of the window, though only Szczesny’s move looks imminent, with Juventus close to meeting Arsenal’s £13m valuation.