Arsenal's hopes of signing Thomas Lemar dashed as Monaco vice-president confirms he will stay

Arsenal have had their hopes of signing Thomas Lemar from Monaco dashed as the club’s vice president confirmed the midfielder is “staying with us”.

Lemar, along with teammate Kylian Mbappe has been on Arsene Wenger’s radar all summer as he looks to continue his raid on Ligue 1 following the club-record £52m move for Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.

Sead Kolasinac has also joined the Gunners as they look to win back their place in the Champions League after a Wenger-worst 5^th-place finish last season.

Wenger, upon touching down in Sydney at the start of their pre-season tour, admitted that while a lot of what was being written was pure “speculation”, he was a “player we have looked at”.

But Monaco’s vice president Vadim Vasilyev has now confirmed that Lemar will be staying at the French champions, leaving Arsenal in the lurch exploring other options.

“We have kept all of the key players that we intended to keep,” Vasilyev said. “I will address speculation relating to the case of (Thomas) Lemar.

“He is staying with us. He is an immense talent and is essential for the team.”