Arsenal: Thomas Lemar can make Bernardo Silva look silly

Arsenal need to take their pursuit of Thomas Lemar seriously, especially because it can make Manchester City’sselection of Bernardo Silva look silly.

Manchester City wasted no time in landing Bernardo Silva. And they were so proud of it, announcing their rather large £43m signing quite early in June. Arsenal stood by and watched, but now, the Gunners are in a position to make that signing look rather silly.

They can do that with Thomas Lemar. The French attacker played opposite Bernardo Silva all year for Monaco and the numbers speak for themselves. Silva may be a wonderful up and coming creator, but Lemar is an even more wonderful, younger, better creator. And really, it is that simple.

Monaco was a powerhouse this past year. So many different weapons were clicking all at once, pounding in goals and creating chances in a pretty even array of attacking dominance. No one player stood out that much more than any other.

But when you boil down the numbers and pit Lemar against Silva, it’s a clean sweep. Lemar is 21 years old to Silva’s 22. Lemar created 2.2 chances per appearance to Silva’s 1.6. Lemar scored 14 goals to Silva’s 10. Lemar assisted 14 goals to Silva’s 11. The list goes on, pass completion, ball retention, ball winning – it all ends with Lemar being on top.

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And what’s even better? Lemar played 200 less minutes than Silva. While still managing to be the superior power to the Portuguese creator in every significant category.

Lemar is supposedly available for £30m, a huge chunk less than what Silva cost Pep and the Citizens. How great would it feel to pull that over on them and watch as Lemar takes home all the head to head honors yet again in the Premier League?

Reports are indicating that Lemar is putting off contract talks with Monaco, which should open the door mightily for the Gunners. The problem is that nothing seems like to happen so long as Alexis and Mesut Ozil dally over their futures. If one of them leaves, Lemar will be called in in a heartbeat.

And then it’s a dream come true for Wenger. Adding Alexandre Lacazette and Thomar Lemar is a French infusion the likes of which Le Prof could only dream of when he was relying on the likes of Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini (phase 2).

Next: Arsenal's Potential 2017/18 Starting XI Without Ozil, Alexis

Ideally, this should absolutely be a priority of the Gunners in a week or so when the window opens officially. Especially if they have locked into a new striker of Lacazette’s caliber. It’s straight gravy from there.

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