Arsenal: £48 million Thomas Lemar deal vindicating

After Arsene Wenger controversially signed a new two-year deal, he, Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke all reiterated the club’s ambition to challenge for titles and trophies. If the rumoured £48 million deal for Thomas Lemar can be completed, then the trio are beginning to vindicate their words.

As a frustrating season drew to a close, the question on everybody’s lips, the one that reverberated around the Emirates, echoing through the chambers of doubt and uncertainty was whether Arsene Wenger would remain as Arsenal manager.

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He had been the unquestioned head of the organisation for over 20 years, bringing great success and victory throughout his reign. But with competition increasing and title challenges waning by mid-February, a growing fraction of the fans were beginning to call for the end. Wenger, though, in his ever-stubborn nature, defied the wants of the fans, instead agreeing to a new two-year deal.

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It was not a popular decision. The main issue that most had with the reappointment was the lack of ambition that the club, and thereby Wenger, had shown. It was thought they no longer cared for titles and trophies, instead, only worrying about lining their wallets as they proceeded to charge the highest ticket pricings in the country.

Wenger, though, alongside Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke, were acutely aware of the accusations of apathy and contentment made against them. In separate statements, all three were insistent that the club still had the ambition to challenge, still had the drive and determination to succeed, still had the will to win.

But fans have heard such contorted, crafted PR speak before. Arsenal are, unfortunately, the masters of it. Actions speak louder than words and that is what the fans demanded of Wenger and his merry men. Thankfully, they are delivering.

After signing Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer to open the summer months, Wenger then broke the club record to secure the services of Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. It was the perfect start to a testing summer window.

And now, there are reports surfacing that Arsenal are preparing to add another, high-profile addition. Reportedly, a deal has been agreed in private with Monaco for their young, enticing winger, Thomas Lemar. While doubts have been expressed over the potential completing of the deal, it is one that Wenger has worked tirelessly on, and could well come to conclusion when the Gunners return from their pre-season tour to China.

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If Wenger is able to push through the move, then it would go some way to vindicating his, Gazidis’ and Kroenke’s manufactured statements shortly after his signing a new deal. Spending £100 million on two players, and significant wages on a third, all of whom will contribute to the starting XI, is a summer driven by ambition, one that I, and many others, believed to be absent from this club.