There have been plenty of different rumours and stories about what went down with Arsenal and Lemar on deadline day, so we’re going to try to pick through the bones and figure out what really happened.
On the morning of deadline day it seemed that a deal for Lemar was long dead, especially after Arsène Wenger had said as much himself in an press conference. This seemed to be reinforced by David Ornstein’s tweet the previous evening, that Arsenal didn’t have the money for a major signing.
Arsenal have no plans to replace AOC & no money for major signings, but only way Sanchez leaves is if #AFC get massive money & replacement
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 30, 2017
As such, the Lemar rumours were at first based more around Liverpool’s interest, with the Standard reporting that the Merseyside club were still after Lemar despite the announcement of the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal.
However, as the Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City rumours started to grow, so did the rumours that Thomas Lemar could be targeted as Alexis’ replacement, bringing Arsenal into the fray. L’Équipe claim that Arsenal and Liverpool then had a bidding war for the French international.
A Daily Mail article published at 13:52 reported that Arsenal had made a £90m bid for the player, and that news spread all over the media, with various accounts on Twitter posting similar information, and other news outlets such as the Daily Star jumping on the rumours.
Supporters were surprised that Arsenal suddenly had the funds for such a big bid, but even more surprising was that the Telegraph then started reporting that Monaco had agreed to the fee, and that all that remained was Lemar’s agreement.
I'm told that Monaco and Arsenal have agreed a fee for Lemar but that it's now down to the player to decide if he will go #AFC
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 31, 2017
After that, reports get a bit more sketchy.
Some say that Arsenal pulled out as there wasn’t enough time to complete a deal, others say Lemar turned Arsenal down because he didn’t have time to think about it, or wanted to join Liverpool, or just didn’t want to join Arsenal.
Even the sources of the initial agreed fee information seemed confused:
Trying to established if Lemar turned Arsenal down. Other complicating factors – Di Maria/Mbappe – but all irrelevant if Lemar reluctant
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 31, 2017
David Ornstein said on Twitter that Lemar had said ‘no’ to the move:
As others report #MCFC Sanchez bid over. Conditional agreement reached £55m+£5m but #AFC needed replacement. Lemar said no so Sanchez stays
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 31, 2017
But later he didn’t seem sure about that information either, telling BBC Sport in their Facebook Live video: “They (Arsenal) reportedly agreed a fee with Monaco of £92,000,000 – there are suggestions that it was Lemar who said ‘No’ to the deal, others are saying that actually, he said yes to the deal, but Arsenal didn’t feel that there was enough time to get the deal over the line.”
There has been very little clarification since then about what really happened, and after his two goals for France, Lemar told reporters on the subject of his future: “You will soon see for yourself but for the moment I am a Monegasque and everything is going very well.”
What is certain is that this morning Thomas Lemar is not an Arsenal player.
But it seems it really did get pretty close.