Liverpool have made a second bid of £64.6m for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar, according to latest reports.
The Telegraph claim that Liverpool are trying to push through a deal before the end of the window, and have been encouraged by Lemar, who apparently wants to leave the club.
The report also says that along with Arsenal, who have had a bid rejected this summer, Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs have all also shown interest in the young French international.
Arsène Wenger recently described attempts by Arsenal to sign the player as “dead”, and until now it seemed like there was very little chance that Lemar would leave the French champions.
In fact, Jason Burt, who is reporting the news in the Telegraph, previously tweeted that a deal for Lemar wouldn’t happen in the same window as Bakayoko left for Chelsea:
Was told weeks ago that Monaco will not sell Bakayoko and Lemar in same window. So Chelsea's Bakayoko deal may kill Arsenal's Lemar chances
— Jason Burt (@JBurtTelegraph) June 28, 2017
Monaco position on Thomas Lemar remains unchanged. They will not sell this window. So maybe then Arsenal will have to offer crazy money.
— Jason Burt (@JBurtTelegraph) July 18, 2017
If his previous information was correct, then the new rumours he’s bringing to us of a Liverpool bid would be unlikely to lead to anything. Perhaps £64.6m could be considered ‘crazy money’, but with the amount Monaco are set to bring in this summer, their standards may have been raised.
In particular, Kylian Mbappé has been strongly linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain, at first on loan but with a fee of more than £100m on the horizon next summer. Losing yet another player and bringing in even more money would surely make a deal for Thomas Lemar more difficult.
Arsenal fans will be hoping this is the case, as Liverpool have already embarrassed the club and its fans enough for one week.