Who is Thomas Lemar? Monaco ace linked with £45m move to Arsenal
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IT'S no real surprise that clubs from across Europe are looking to buy some of Monaco’s best players.
The Monegasques won the French league last season and reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking out the likes of Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund on the way.
And it looks like winger Thomas Lemar could be on his way out of the Stade Louis II, thanks to interest from around the continent, with Arsenal linked with a stunning £45m move.
Our friends at Football Whispers have profiled the 21-year-old French international.
Who is Thomas Lemar and where does he come from?
A product of the Caen youth system, Lemar made his senior debut in the opening game of the 2013/14 season in August 2013.
He went on to make 31 appearances in total for SMC, before he attracted interest from across Europe – he was subject of Chelsea transfer rumours and was linked to Liverpool, Lyon and Bordeaux too, but he opted for a move to Monaco.
The midfielder moved to the principality for just £3.5million and has shone for Leonardo Jardim’s team since then.
Since moving from Caen, the 21-year-old has played in a variety of midfield positions.
He’s featured in the middle of a two or a three, but since Jardim switched to 4-4-2, Lemar has really started to excel, earning him the first of five international caps so far in November.
You can see how he’s kicked on from just his return in 2016/17 – 14 goals and 17 assists in all competitions is hugely impressive.
While Kylian Mbappé, Tiemoué Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva may have got a large amount of the praise from onlookers for, Lemar’s role in Monaco winning Ligue 1 and reaching the Champions League semi-finals can’t be underestimated.
He plays with his head up and his left foot is capable of magic – he never looks to complicate things and although he can beat players by dribbling, he has a superb range of passes which he uses to the opposition’s detriment.
Even though he plays on the wing, he’s not blessed with pace as his team-mates Benjamin Mendy and Mbappé, but he doesn’t need it.
Lemar prefers to link up and play one-two passes and use movement and the threat of his delivery to open up space.
No Monaco man played more key passes per game last season (2.2) than Lemar, and he also made more crosses (1.4) than any of his team-mates.
And out of those who played regularly in Ligue 1, only striking options Radamel Falcao (2.8), Valere Germain (1.8) and Mbappe (1.8) had more shots on goal per game than Lemar’s 1.7.
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How much will he cost?
Recent reports suggest Monaco have put a €30million (£26.3million) asking price on Lemar.
But when you consider they sold Silva for a fee that could total €70million (£61million), and that a nine-figure fee is being quoted for Mbappe, that seems a fair bit short of what you would expect the Monegasque side to ask for.
In fact, when Lemar was the subject of Liverpool transfer gossip last year, the talk was that the Reds would have to shell out a fee similar to the £58.8million that Manchester United paid for Anthony Martial in 2015.
And given that the midfielder was a key part in Monaco winning the Ligue 1 title in the 2016/17 season, his stock will only have grown since last summer, so it would be very strange indeed for his asking price to drop.
Whatever Monaco do want, if there’s any justice in the world, what they get will dwarf the £3.5million fee they paid to Caen just two summers ago.
Where is his most likely destination this summer?
Lemar has been linked to clubs all over Europe, although French media outlet Telefoot claim there is currently a four-way scramble for his signature.
Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus are all thought to be chasing with the France international.
Perhaps him being a Tottenham transfer target would make most sense as Spurs fans, and Mauricio Pochettino, got to witness first hand how effective Lemar could be in the Champions League.
The winger scored home and away in the group stage against Tottenham, with both goals settling the matches.
Juventus also of course got to see what he could do in the Champions League semi-final, although he failed to hit the back of the net in those two games.
Although Arsenal would of course be an attractive prospect, perhaps the other three would have an advantage over them though as the Gunners don’t have Champions League football.
With Mohamed Salah’s arrival at Liverpool imminent, they might not look for wide men anymore, so it would be a 50/50 chance for both Tottenham and Juventus, and that would be down to what they could offer the player.
And given that Erik Lamela and Son Heung-Min will miss the start of next season through injury, the Frenchman would be a welcome addition to Spurs’ squad.