Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev insists that the Ligue 1 club aren’t looking to sell Thomas Lemar in January, which is mildly annoying but predictable.

Vasilyev claims that selling the likes of Lemar (and Fabinho) isn’t on the ‘agenda’ for January. The comments follow claims that Arsenal will return for the 22-year-old after narrowly missing out on him in August.

“The sales of important players is not on the agenda,” said Vasilyev. “We have never spoken (to Lemar or his entourage) about the possibility of a January departure.”

The news that Monaco won’t sell Lemar, or at least aren’t looking to, in January isn’t really a surprise.

I don’t see Arsene Wenger trying to sign him mid-way through the season. If we do return for the £90m winger, which the boss said in September, it’s far more likely to be in the summer. Wenger is famous for not agreeing that the January transfer window should even exist and very rarely makes big signings during that time.

What’s more, I’m sure second-place Monaco are quite happy to hang onto the France international for the rest of the campaign.

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(ROMAIN LAFABREGUE/AFP/Getty Images)

Monaco sold €357m worth of players including Bernardo Silva, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Benjamin Mendy and Kylian Mbappe over the summer. I imagine they want to keep this squad together for at least a little while longer.

This season, Lemar’s struggled to reach his previous form due to injuries. In September, he was sidelined with a hamstring problem. Then, in November, he was ruled out for over a month with a shoulder injury.

In total, he’s scored twice and assisted four goals in 18 appearances this term.

Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool have also been linked.

Lemar has until June 2020 on his current contract.