Liverpool Reportedly Remains Thomas Lemar’s First Choice

Thomas Lemar has resisted signing a new deal with Monaco and will look to move on in the summer. That was the news overnight, setting off an expected buzz amongst Liverpool fans who were excited by the prospect of signing the 22-year-old French international last summer and disappointed not to land him in January.

Now there are further details concerning Lemar that will be even more interesting to Liverpool fans. First, that despite there being no confirmation of it at the time from reliable sources, Liverpool did in fact try to sign him in January. And second, that Liverpool and not Arsenal remains the player’s preferred destination.

This comes from The Independent’s chief football writer, Miguel Delaney, who claims Liverpool did make an effort to sign Lemar last month but had their interest rebuffed by Monaco. If true, it’s hardly a surprise to find Lemar is now resisting that club’s efforts to sign him to a new deal that would improve their position.

That’s coming at a cost to the player, though, as he is currently only on a €20k weekly wage—a lot of money in nearly any field other than top flight professional football. This summer, that deal will be down to having two years left on it, beginning to shift the power in negotiations to the player and any potential buying club.

Last summer, Monaco rejected a £78M offer from Liverpool on deadline day but accepted a higher bid from Arsenal. The player, though, valued the prospect of Champions League football and joining Jürgen Klopp’s Anfield project. That appears to still be the case—and it looks like Klopp still wants Lemar, too.