Dropping out of the race
In a shock turn of events, it was announced on Thursday evening that Liverpool will not be signing long-term target Thomas Lemar from Monaco.
The Frenchman has looked to be one of the clubs top targets over the past couple of transfer windows.
Having previously had a bid rejected, it was expected that the club would go back in for the player as Philippe Coutinho’s replacement.
The club still have a hefty percentage of that £142million fee in the bank but it looks as though they will not be using it on Lemar.
That is because the Liverpool Echo are reporting that the Reds have dropped all interest in signing the Monaco wide man.
The report states that Klopp was put off making a move in January due to the inflated price of around £90million.
He, and other figures at the club now think that there are much more solid investments than spending that amount of money on Lemar.
Not only that, the Liverpool Echo claims that the club is ‘convinced’ there are players who would much more suit their needs come the summer.
Finally, the player has also only contributed to Monaco’s season with three goals and five assists, a slump compared to last campaign.
Just got home to see that Liverpool are NOT interested in Thomas Lemar anymore. I’ll say it now: I want Isco.
— Mike (@MikeMongie) February 8, 2018
Arsenal to move in?
One question that this does raise is whether Arsenal will return to sign the player in the summer.
They had a move for the player fall through on deadline day in the summer due to the player’s cold feet and lack of time to complete a deal.
In January they chose to pursue a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang instead over Thomas Lemar.
Now, with reports that Arsenal and Liverpool were set to battle it out for the player this summer, Arsenal have a free run at the player.
Whether they decide to take it or not is yet to be seen.