Thomas Lemar wanted move to England but Monaco blocked it

Monaco prevented Thomas Lemar from fulfilling his wish to move to the Premier League despite ‘very, very high’ offers from Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Principality club sold the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Mendy during a difficult summer following their Ligue 1 triumph.

Lemar, a France international, told Monaco he wanted to move to England amid interest from Liverpool and Arsenal late on in the window.

But Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has revealed that the Ligue 1 club blocked his move

But the club’s vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has revealed that they blocked the move because they had no time to find a replacement. 

‘He wanted to go to the Premier League and I had a few discussions with him and I said “stay, stay, stay” but, of course, when the offers were very, very high, higher than we initially expected then we had to talk, to discuss. But in the end we were very happy,’ he told the Telegraph.

‘These offers came late, very late, in the market so once you cannot replace a player they (the offers) become even more difficult to accept.’

Lemar, a France international, was the subject of club-record bids from Arsenal and Liverpool

Arsenal had a £92m bid accepted for the winger, while Liverpool also made a a club-record £74m offer late in the window. Vasilyev expects clubs to come back in for the 21-year-old in January and admits there is a ‘fair chance’ he will leave next summer.

‘We understand that we are basically a selling club and we accept that but at the same time we are in a good financial situation so we don’t have to sell and we want to keep the club competitive,’ he said. 

‘This is not about making money, it’s about being successful. So there is always this balance.’