Arsenal: Why Tomas Lemar will rightly cost more than Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal will have to up the ante and pay more for Thomas Lemar than they did for Alexis Sanchez. It may sound crazy, but it makes total sense.

Arsenal had their relatively modest bid for Thomas Lemar rejected. £31m for Lemar may seem like a good enough amount, but that has to be solely based on the fact that his name doesn’t have the draw that it will come this time next year.

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Based on production alone, he is worth far more. Which may be shocking, because according to reports, Monaco want near £50m for the guy, meaning he would cost far an away more than Alexis Sanchez cost the Gunners just three years ago.

I’m not going to lie, that didn’t sit well with me at first. I was of the impression that Alexis was simply irreplaceable, and that no one man could bring in what the Chilean has for this club.

But then I got to thinking that it makes total sense why Lemar would cost more, and it makes total sense that Arsenal would have to pay more than they did for Alexis to land the services of the up and coming Frenchman.

So let’s chat.

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Alexis had two years left on his Barcelona deal when he made the move to Arsenal, which isn’t all that much time, driving his price down a bit. Plus he was 25 years old which, yes, he was going into/already in his prime, but he was also past the developmental stages, where a player can be molded.

Unlike Thomas Lemar, who is 21 years old, has tons of room to grow. Arsene Wenger can build him into anything he wants – a winger, a midfielder, hell, he could even make him a striker.

Plus, he has a whole three years left on his deal, which is a big chunk of time we have to pay for.

Not to mention the fact that Lemar is far more crucial to Monaco’s successes than Alexis was to Barcelona’s. That’s one of the main reasons why the Chilean ended up leaving in the first place.

Lemar is a brilliant player and he is only going to get better. This price shouldn’t be a put off, it should just be further confirmation that he is everything that we think he is.

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And in the end, when he’s made himself known around the world, that £50m will look like some of the best money ever spent.