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Barcelona join Arsenal in race for Monaco forward Thomas Lemar

Thomas Lemar celebrates after scoring against PSG during the French League Cup final on 1 April, 2017
Image: Monaco maintain Thomas Lemar is not for sale

Barcelona are rivalling Arsenal for Monaco forward Thomas Lemar, Sky Sports News understands.

The Gunners have been in talks to sign the attacking midfielder all summer and are believed to have had an initial £30m offer rejected last month.

Monaco have maintained Lemar is not for sale, with the Ligue 1 champions having already sold a number of key players including Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy to Manchester City and Tiemoue Bakayoko to Chelsea.

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But, having lost Neymar in a world-record deal to Paris Saint-Germain last week, Barcelona are looking to improve their forward options and Lemar is of interest along with Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele and Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.

Arsenal are still on the hunt for attacking options despite having already added Alexandre Lacazette and left-back Sead Kolasinac - both of whom impressed in the Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday.

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Arsene Wenger last week said Neymar's record move to PSG could have serious implications for the rest of the transfer window

Lemar, who helped Monaco win the French title last season for the first time in 17 years and was in France's starting line-up for the friendly victory over England shortly after the end of last season, remains a key target for Arsene Wenger.

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The promising 21-year-old started in Monaco's 3-2 opening-day win over Toulouse at the weekend. He scored 12 goals in 39 appearances last season and has three years left on his Monaco contract.

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