Arsenal: Thomas Lemar the want and not the need

Arsenal are being increasingly linked with a move for Thomas Lemar, with Arsene Wenger admitting that he would go in for him again. However, while the Frenchman may be talented, he is the want, not the need.

Arsenal’s failure to land Thomas Lemar on transfer deadline day as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez seems to not just be a quick summer fling. Arsene Wenger admitted that it was Lemar who rejected the transfer, heralded his talents, and stated that he would make another move for the Monaco winger in the near future.

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And as a result of such comments, the rumour mill is whirring. The latest reports suggest that a £250,000-a-week deal has already been agreed ahead of the relaunching of a £92 million bid. While it sounds difficult to believe, what cannot be doubted is that there is a degree of interest there. Wenger admitted as much. So we should, therefore, at least consider the implications of the possible addition of Lemar.

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What is immediately noticeable about his game is his creativity and ingenuity in the final third. Although he may play out wide, he plays the position with more guile than a traditional, ‘chalk-on-his-boots’ winger, often drifting inside, looking for the more precise, penetrating through balls, rather than simply scampering to the byline and flashing a cross into the box.

He is a cuter attacker with an outstanding delivery, both from open play and set pieces. He is not a burner with searing pace; neither is he a bounding midfielder with unending stamina. And he would significantly improve the attacking options that Wenger has available to him. But does that make him a good signing?

You see, Arsenal, realistically, do not need another attacker. They may want one. But they do not need one. They have far more substantial and damaging shortcomings that need to be addressed before they sign more technically gifted, creative attacking midfielders.

A little steel in central midfield, for example, could be used, a dominating, leading centre-half, a replacement for Santi Cazorla as a swivelling distributor in the centre of the park. These are all needs. And yet, year after year, they go unattended to, as if Wenger does not see them, or at least does not want to see them.

This is not to say that Lemar would be a bad signing necessarily. Alexis Sanchez will need to be replaced and bringing in a younger alternative is a wise move. But if Arsenal were merely to swap Lemar in for Sanchez, it would not solve any of the aforementioned issues that have scuppered their progress for far too many years.

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Lemar, unfortunately, is a want and not a need. That does not make him a bad signing. But it does not make him surplus to requirements, not that that will stop Wenger.