Arsenal: Thomas Lemar just isn’t a good idea anymore

This isn’t the first time that Thomas Lemar has been linked to Arsenal, but unlike last time, this time it just isn’t a good idea.

For the longest time, it felt like the ideal signing for Arsenal would be Thomas Lemar. When he broke out in 2016/17 with nine goals and ten assists at Monaco, it was in the throes of the Gunners not really having a winger. A problem they’d been suffering from for far too many years.

Since moving to Atletico Madrid, Lemar has completely disappeared. He’s come no where close to the level of production he had at Monaco, and this has been particularly nefarious, as he has zero goals and zero assists in about 950 combined minutes between La Liga and the Champions League.

His sole contribution is a goal in the Copa Del Rey.

So yeah, I can understand why the rumors are telling us that Atletico are willing to part with him. He’s still 24, his breakout is still recent enough that there is value to be had there.

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But having just signed Nicolas Pepe, I’m not feeling the need to double up on our Ligue 1 investment. Pepe became our most expensive signing ever, coming in for £72m, and ever since, he’s been acclimating.

Which is natural, it takes time.

On the year, Pepe has five goals and five assists across the Premier League and the Europa League. All things considered, that’s a decent return. But it hasn’t been smooth sailing. He’s struggled to settle in, and again, there’s nothing wrong with that. I just don’t want to do it again tomorrow with Thomas Lemar, who hasn’t been able to settle in in La Liga in a year and a half.

Not just that, but with Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all clamoring for time, Lemar’s acclimation, or perhaps his inability to make it at this level, would be an unnecessary blockade of their growth while we wait for Lemar to grow into it to.

Because let me tell you, if the switch to Spain was tough, the switch to England will be even moreso. He just need ask Pepe for details on that.

Nostalgia is fun. My snap impulse on hearing this rumor was to get excited, but then I remembered that it’s not 2017 anymore. Thankfully so, because Lemar wouldn’t be faring any better here than he currently is in the Spanish capital.