Reports: Arsenal given huge boost in their chase of number 1 target

What's the story?

Arsenal have been alerted by Monaco as the club say that they are willing to consider a late sale of one of their star players. The Metro believes that Monaco are ready to sell Arsenal's long-term target Thomas Lemar.

Club's Vice-President, Vadim Vasilyev had last month stated that Lemar would not be sold. "We have kept all of the key players that we intended to keep. And I will address speculation relating to Lemar - he is staying with us. He is an immense talent and is essential for the team," he said.

In case you didn't know...

Arsenal have been interested in Lemar ever since the beginning of the summer transfer window. They have tried a lot this summer to get the player but failed with their multiple attempts.

It was believed that Arsenal had given up hope of signing Lemar and were looking for other alternatives.

Apart from Arsenal, Manchester United have also shown interest in signing the winger from Monaco with Mourinho making it clear that he wants to sign a winger before the transfer window closes.

His number one target was Ivan Perisic but he has turned his attention back to Lemar after Inter Milan insisted that Perisic is not for sale.

The heart of the matter

Arsenal now believe that they are back in the market for Lemar as Monaco are willing to let the winger leave the club.

The Gunners were left frustrated when they were told that the 22-year old would not be sold as Monaco had already sold Benjamin Mendy, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva by then.

However, things have changed in the past couple of days as the French club are letting Kylian Mbappe and Fabinho leave.

Arsene Wenger had recently stated that the club won't sign new players till the club offloads a few fringe players. Arsenal have a 33-man squad and Wenger will not add a player just for the sake of it.

He did say that he is open to signing an 'exceptional' player and Thomas Lemar is likely to fall in that bracket.

What's next?

With Lemar being available, Arsenal should not waste any more time and do everything possible to sign him up before rivals Manchester United make a move or Monaco change their stance.

Author's take

Lemar will definitely be a good addition to the side. The winger established himself as one of Europe's hottest talents last season. He scored 14 goals and provided 17 assists in his 55 appearances last season.

Arsenal must now make another bid and secure his move to the Emirates as soon as possible.