Arsenal may still be after Monaco’s Thomas Lemar and Paris Saint-Germain’s Julian Draxler, but only if Alexis Sanchez leaves for Manchester City.

According to the Express, journalist Emanuele Giulianelli says that Arsenal have identified the two players as potential Alexis Sanchez replacements. “Alexis Sanchez has been pursued by Manchester City for many weeks and now he seems very close to joining Pep Guardiola and the Citizens.

“If Arsenal will take £70m from his departure, they are ready to invest that money in Lemar. If something should go wrong with Monaco, the second option comes from Ligue 1 too and his name is Julian Draxler.”

Giulianelli hasn’t got a very good track record when it comes to Arsenal news, with previous claims that the Gunners had agreed deals for Lukaku or Lemar later turning out to be false.

Both Lemar and Draxler have had reports come out in recent weeks that they aren’t likely to leave their clubs, with Monaco stressing the former is not for sale and Draxler’s agent saying that he doesn’t expect his client to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

If Arsenal did sell Alexis Sanchez in a cash-only deal, the Gunners would need to be in the market for a replacement, and would surely have more than enough money to convince PSG to sell a player who is seemingly falling behind Neymar and potential signing Kylian Mbappé in their team selection process.

Lemar might be a more difficult signing given Arsenal have had three bids reportedly turned down, while Liverpool’s approach has knocked back too.