Red Herring Rumours: Thomas Lemar Edition

It has been a tremendously successful year for AS Monaco; marching to a dominant Ligue 1 title ahead of winners of four straight, Paris Saint-Germain, paired with a Champions League semi-final spot. While the immense success the monégasques enjoyed this season was unexpected, it didn't come completely out of left field, with the young side having taken second, third, and third place in the French top division in the previous three seasons.

Naturally, whenever a smaller side or a team from a weaker division overperforms, its players will be targeted by the big dogs. Bernardo Silva has already signed for Manchester City, Tiemoue Bakayoko is joining Chelsea, Kylian Mbappé looks set to join Real Madrid, while Benjamin Mendy and Fabinho have attracted enough interest that their departures are considered a matter of when and how much rather than if.

Liverpool are still considered a big club, and as such, will be linked to each and every one of the departing Monaco players in turn. The Mbappé rumours seemingly refuse to die until he either moves officially or another young Monaco attacker can take his place in the rumour mill.

Enter Thomas Lemar. The 21-year old had — as did most Monaco players — a stellar season, recording nine goals and ten assists in the league, averaging a goal involvement every 135 minutes or so. He possesses a delight of a left foot, capable of delicate accuracy as well as absolute thunderbastards, and offers a profound threat from set pieces. Pace, close control and a direct running style that will have counter-pressing managers across the continent salivating completes the package. Thomas Lemar is very talented, and will be displaying those talents in a different shirt very soon.

It won’t be at Anfield, however. Despite reports from Le 10 Sport that Liverpool and Tottenham have joined the race to sign the Guadeloupe-born winger, this seems more likely to be an attempt from Monaco to incite a bidding war after Arsenal made an official bid on Wednesday. €40m may sound a solid bid for a 21-year old with only two seasons of consistent first-team football under his belt, but in today's market, one can understand the Ligue 1 title holders attempting to maximise their earnings.

Whatever the case, Liverpool are likely done signing attackers this summer. Mohamed Salah has been brought in to start alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané, and Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana complete Jürgen Klopp's attacking options, while Danny Ings may still be a thing. Central midfield and defense are the remaining stated priorities, and it appears the Reds will chase their primary targets at those positions at exorbitant cost. Unless something unforeseen alters the make-up of Liverpool’s current offensive selection, there simply isn't room for another attacker expecting starting minutes.