Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev says Thomas Lemar will stay at Monaco until the end of the season, even if Arsenal or Liverpool come in with a big offer now or in the summer.

Back in August, as the Gunners scrambled to find a replacement for Alexis Sanchez, they bid £92m on Lemar. According to reports, Monaco accepted the bid, but the player turned it down.

It was already deadline day, and the young winger wanted more time to consider his options. Vasilyev says Lemar won’t face a similar dilemma this window. He told RMC radio: “He will stay at Monaco until the end of the season at 100 per cent.

“If Liverpool or Arsenal come with a big offer before the end of the market? This is not relevant. We will say no because the objectives are clear. Without important players like Lemar, we will not succeed.”

In fairness, I don’t think either club is planning to make a bid in January anyway. Jurgen Klopp says there are no replacements for Philippe Coutinho on the market, so they aren’t active. Meanwhile, Arsenal are focusing on completing a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

If the Aubameyang deal fell through, it’s possible the Gunners might turn their attention elsewhere. I’m not sure Lemar is showing enough right now for a mega-money transfer, having scored three goals and five assists in 23 matches this season.

His stats have really taken a hit thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s loan departure. In my opinion, Arsenal would be better off waiting to see what he does in the second half of the campaign anyway.