Arsenal: So what happened with Thomas Lemar?

All summer, Arsenal were linked with a move for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar. Why have they now turned their attention to other targets?

Throughout the summer, Arsenal was linked with Monaco’s lethal left-midfielder Thomas Lemar. What happened to those rumors?

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The Gunners bid £90 million for Lemar, only to pull out of the deal because they feared that they would not be able to complete all the complexities before the deadline. The initial thought was that Lemar would be the successor to Alexis Sanchez, who was on his way to Manchester City at the time. But when the deal fell through, Sanchez was forced to stay.

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But now, just six months later, with Sanchez signing for Manchester United, not City, Arsenal has turned their attention to other targets, namely, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Is Lemar better than any of these targets?

The French creator is a Ligue 1 title winner and a UNFP player of the month for November in 2016. He may not be the most decorated player in the league, but his performances tell the story. In three seasons with Monaco, he has 22 goals. Last season was his break out year, netting 14 times. He is a dynamic winger with killer skills and an eye for a pass. He can play down the middle and out wide; his versatility, allied with a positional intelligence that allows him to flourish in such varied role, is what makes him so valuable.

So why has the scent run dry? Well, there are two key reasons: His price tag and his lack of experience. Any club would be wary of taking a £90 million gamble on a player with only one good season. Clearly, he needs some more time to develop into a world-class player. But for £90 million, surely the thinking is that he is already a top-tier talent and producer. Even his former teammate Kylian Mbappe was a gamble for Paris Saint Germain.

Moreover, there are also plenty of other options in his position for other clubs to pick up. Malcolm has been hot property this window, Julian Draxler, Angel di Maria and Lucas Moura are all searching for PSG exits, while Phillipe Coutinho signed for Barcelona in a staggering £142 million deal from Liverpool. There is not just one player that every club is after.

It seems as though Mkhitaryan will fill that void left by Sanchez. But is he enough to haul Arsenal back into the top four? Mkhitaryan and Lemar are very similar players but the latter is much younger. He has his future before him. He is an unfinished product. He may also ask for cheaper wages, with Mkhitaryan reportedly demanding one of the highest pay-packets in the squad, and can be moulded into exactly what Arsene Wenger wants.

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In the end, the differences between the two players, in terms of style and quality, are minimal. The need for both may not necessarily be there, but I still feel like Lemar, given his age, would be an addition that is worth pursuing.