Arsenal will face competition from Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester City for £50m-rated Thomas Lemar, according to reports.

For the majority of the summer, it’s been reported that only Arsenal were in for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar. While progress on the deal has been slow, most thought that Arsenal only needed to agree a fee to secure one of their top targets this window.

However, according to The Express, Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester City have suddenly entered the race.

Barcelona’s interest comes off the back of them losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain. Now £198m richer, they could outbid any of the teams interested in Lemar. However, Lemar could just be one target, as they’ve been linked with Kylian Mbappe, Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele and Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho as well.

Liverpool’s and City’s name seem to be tossed in just because.

Liverpool may turn to Lemar should they lose Coutinho to Barcelona. City, however, seem too obsessed with Alexis Sanchez to target other wingers.

According to Sky Sports, via The Daily Star, Arsenal are still in negotiations for Lemar.

However, there are multiple sources on how much Monaco want for him. Sky Sports believe that Monaco want £50m, while the Daily Star report Arsenal could offer up to £54m.

If there is this much competition for Lemar, that asking price will only get higher.

For our sake, let’s hope that the move doesn’t get that complicated.