Arsenal get Thomas Lemar hope as Monaco boss admits club cannot guarantee he will stay

In demand: Thomas Lemar
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James Benge3 August 2017

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim has admitted his club cannot be certain of keeping their star players as Arsenal circle for Thomas Lemar.

The French champions have already sold Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva (both to Manchester City) and Tiemoue Bakayoko (Chelsea) this summer but vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has insisted their summer sales are over.

However Europe’s top clubs continue to circle around Monaco players, with Real Madrid the leading contenders for 18-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe, for whom Arsenal made a stunning £87million bid that was subsequently rejected.

Arsenal have since switched their focus to midfielder Lemar, for whom two bids have been rejected, and Jardim seemingly admitted that he could offer no guarantees over the 21-year-old’s future.

“All the players who were important last season are important to keep for the club,” Jardim said at a press conference.

“But it has been shown over the years that it's not always possible to keep the players, and you know how our project works. So our goal is to work well with players who will stay here after the transfer window closes.”

Mbappe’s future has been the subject of renewed speculation with reports in France claiming that Barcelona plan to use their £198million Neymar to fund their pursuit of the 18-year-old striker.

Jardim praised the focus shown by the likes of Mbappe and Lemar amid the rumours.

“It's not only about [Mbappe], all the young players who were here last year and had a great season,” Jardim added, “Fabinho, Lemar, Kylian, we're talking about them joining other clubs, but they stay focused.

“Of course, Fabinho and Lemar are older, they may be a bit more mature, but Kylian, even these last two days, he's been working well. They know that the most important thing is the pitch.”

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