Arsenal are close to completing a deal to sign AS Monaco winger Thomas Lemar this summer, for a fee reportedly around £45m.

According to The Sun, Arsenal and Monaco have finally agreed on a fee for the 21-year-old, and the player was believed to have already agreed terms with the Gunners.

As a result, the French international’s move could be announced sooner rather than later. There was doubt this deal would ever go through given how long it’s taken for progress to be made.

Arsenal were linked with Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, who was a secondary option if they failed to sign Lemar. Both operate as left-footed right-wingers and could be a replacement for Theo Walcott.

But as for the Monaco winger, Lemar made 34 Ligue 1 appearances last season, scoring nine goals and making 10 assists, helping the side to the league title and Champions League semi-final.

Lemar will be Arsenal’s third notable signing of the summer, following Schalke 04’s Sead Kolasinac and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette, and another of Monaco’s standout stars of 2016/17 to exit the club.

Arsenal will have to pay £45m to sign Lemar, considerably less than the £80m asking price that was previously reported. And the deal flies in the face of suggestions that Monaco will stop outgoings given how many they’ve let go this summer.

The Ligue 1 side have sold Bernardo Silva to Manchester City, Tiemoue Bakayoko to Chelsea, Benjamin Mendy to Manchester City, while Kylian Mbappe has been linked with a move to Real Madrid. Lemar looks to be the next exit.