Wenger finally opens up on why Thomas Lemar, Alexis Sanchez deals fell through

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, has spoken for the first time after the transfer deadline fiasco, that saw a late move for Thomas Lemar fall through.

The Gunners agreed a £60million deal with Manchester City for Alexis Sanchez, but the transfer was not sanctioned as they wanted to get a replacement for the Chilean attacker first.

A £92million deal was struck with Monaco for Lemar, but the player turned down the move to the Emirates.

Wenger said on Friday: “Lemar chose to stay at Monaco. You have to respect what happens on the negotiation side. You have to not talk too much about that.

“When you decide to let a player of [Alexis’] calibre go, you need to replace him as nobody would understand that you let him go.

“You keep the player and make a financial sacrifice because what you want, at the end of the day, is to have a team with top quality.

“You think during the season you will find a way to extend the contract or at the end of the season the player goes for free.

“What I want him to do is now to focus on his career, on his season and on Arsenal Football Club.”

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