Arsenal: Thomas Lemar surpassed by alternative options

Arsenal are reportedly set to end their interest in Thomas Lemar amid fears that Barcelona will drive the price too high. However, alternative options have now surpassed the Frenchman as a better investment.

As it looked increasingly likely that Alexis Sanchez would move to Manchester City in a £60 million, deadline-day move, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger scrambled to find a suitable replacement. The player they had to find needed to be of the required quality, cost an acceptable amount, and be available to sign at such short notice. They were unable to find that player.

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The man they nearly signed was Thomas Lemar. A £90 million offer was accepted, before being rescinded amid fears that the deal could not be completed in the increasingly stressing time constraints, and there was a seeming intention to bring the Frenchman to the club.

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But Wenger decided against it, choosing, instead, to keep Sanchez, even as he entered the final year on his contract, and wait for another opportunity to sign Lemar. However, given the reports on Wednesday morning, it looks like that opportunity may not arise again. The Daily Mail (as always, take that for what it’s worth) are claiming that Wenger’s interest in Lemar has seeped away because of fears that Barcelona’s reported desire to sign the Monaco winger will drive the price up.

When I first read the report, I thought that I would be disappointed. In the summer, I wanted Arsenal to sign Lemar. And even now, I still believe that he would be a good signing. But the most prominent question surrounding his quality in the summer was his consistency. He has only had one good season at the senior level. Was he a one-hit wonder?

That is a question that is yet to be answered this season. In 775 minutes of Ligue 1 football this season, Lemar has only scored one goal and assisted a further three. A direct involvement in a goal every 193.75 minutes, or, in other terms, a goal or assist approximately every three games, is nothing to shout about.

Contrast that goal involvement rate to alternative options that Arsenal have been linked with this season: Julian Draxler and Nabil Fekir. In Ligue 1, Draxler has been directly involved in a goal every 144.75 minutes; Fekir, also in Ligue 1, has been directly involved in a goal every 65.67 minutes. Moreover, Draxler has played the majority of his football in the Coupe de France, where has made five appearances this season, four of them starts. He has scored four goals.

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There is a possibility that Lemar is not the player that I thought him to be. He has not been able to replicate the attacking form of last season, this season. And, consequently, he has been surpassed by alternative options. Namely, Julian Draxler and Nabil Fekir. Perhaps moving on from him is not all that bad, after all.