A big reason that Alexis Sanchez did not not leave Arsenal is because the plan to replace him was about as well as thought out as…well, it doesn’t look like there was any plan. Certainly there was no replacement plan containing much thought. Arsenal did submit an 11th hour and club record bid on deadline day for Monaco man Thomas Lemar, with some sources reporting an amount as high as £92 million.
However, it seems like no due diligence was performed in regards to gauging the player’s interest.
Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger revealed today that Lemar was just not interested.
“I do not want to talk too much. You have to respect what really happens on the negotiation side,” Wenger said in an interview with BeIN Sports.
“I know we live in an era of transparency but at some stage to respect everybody you have to not talk too much about that.”
It was yet another misstep on a disastrous deadline day, which capped off the complete failure that was Arsenal’s summer transfer window. Thomas Lemar had also been heavily linked to Liverpool as well, but ultimately decided to stay put. Following his dominant performance in France’s win over the Netherlands, he told reporters: “I am a player of Monaco, I am very happy there.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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