Barcelona to rival Arsenal and Liverpool for Ligue 1 star

Arsenal and Liverpool will face stiff competition from Barcelona for Monaco star Thomas Lemar at the end of the season, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The Gunners earmarked Lemar as the ideal replacement for Alexis Sanchez but failed in their attempts to get a £90m deal over the line for the France international on deadline day of the summer transfer window.

Lemar wanted to move to join Arsenal or Liverpool in order to move to the Premier League, but both sides may now miss out on his signature if Barcelona ramp up their interest in the 21-year-old at the end of the season.

Ernesto Valverde’s side are still looking to suitably replace Neymar, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer for a world record fee, and will continue to monitor Lemar’s progress until the end of the season.

Since the start of last season, only Morgan Sanson (14) has provided more assists in Ligue 1 than Lemar (13).