Arsenal pull out of Thomas Lemar chase, Alexis Sanchez likely to stay

Arsenal have reportedly decided to pull out a potential deal for Thomas Lemar as they do not have sufficient time to finalise the agreement, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has revealed. The Gunners have been interested in the France international all summer, and they had recently agreed on a British-record fee of £92m to pursue his services from the Principality outfit.

However, things have not gone as planned with Lemar currently with the France squad for a key World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands. The Gunners do not have sufficient time to formalise the necessary requirements following the international, thus they have decided to end their pursuit of the attacker.

“As it stands, Arsenal pull out of Lemar negotiations. “So Alexis, much to his pain, stays. Will there be more twists? #DeadlineDay,” Balague wrote on his official Twitter account h/t The Express.

The move is likely to have a direct influence on the future of Alexis Sanchez, who is hoping to seal his proposed switch to Manchester City before the 11 pm transfer deadline. The Chilean is similarly on international duty to take on Paraguay, and as things stand, he is set to honour the final year of his Gunners contract.

Sanchez showed his visible disappointment over the course of the Gunners’ 4-0 thumping at the hands of Liverpool, but the club are adamant to offload him unless they bring in a suitable replacement in their ranks. The World Cup qualifiers appear to have come at the wrong time for Arsene Wenger’s side as most of their immediate targets would be plying their trade for their respective nations tonight.

Arsenal have had a relatively average transfer window with just two signings in Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette, but the presence of Sanchez in the squad would still be a huge boost, although no one knows how he would react to his failed transfer.

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