Arsenal: All the Thomas Lemar transfer hope has been found

Arsenal have been after Thomas Lemar all summer and have received very little encouragement from Monaco, but at long last, we have found that hope.

Arsenal’s transfer window has been as painless as can be. They have landed the players that they needed and they did it pretty easily. And, though the preseason tour and the Emirates Cup, the investment has looked pretty sound on both counts.

But Thomas Lemar continues to be the one that defies us. Or rather, Monaco continue to be the ones who defy us.

Whereas Olympic Lyon admitted straight up that Alexandre Lacazette was going to be leaving and Lacazette said the same himself, Monaco have said the complete opposite of Lemar. Their higher-ups have been staunch in their denial of any sort of transfer business, calling him too essential to their efforts.

There hasn’t been any shred of hope or glimmer or reason to believe other than some random reports and a picture Lemar took with a couple young Arsenal fans.

That is, until now. Just when you thought that Monaco wouldn’t give at all, their esteemed manager Leonardo Jardim has come out and said exactly what we wanted to hear. Take a look (as quoted by the Daily Star):

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"All the players who were important last season are important to keep for the club. But it has been shown over the years that it’s not always possible to keep the players, and you know how our project works. So our goal is to work well with players who will stay here after the transfer window closes."

This little bit was encouraging enough. There was no ‘this player is more important than that one’ coming from the manager’s mouth.

But it gets better. Read on:

"It’s not only about [Mbappe], all the young players who were here last year and had a great season. Fabinho, Lemar, Kylian, we’re talking about them joining other clubs, but they stay focused. Of course, Fabinho and Lemar are older, they may be a bit more mature, but Kylian, even these last two days, he’s been working well. They know that the most important thing is the pitch."

Not only is it not always possible to keep the players, but Jardim even admits that they are talking about them joining other clubs. And here we have it, the door being cracked open. Clearly they aren’t drawing this hard line that was being reported. They aren’t going to completely stonewal; the Gunners, they just need to be convinced.

Next: 5 Reasons Lemar Takes Back Seat To Rabiot

Maybe Arsene Wenger has spoiled me by landing nearly everyone he wants, but once there is daylight into a potential transfer, I have trouble not believing that it will be completed. So while I was ready to count this transfer down and out, Jardim has gone and revived the speculation.

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