Thomas Lemar is close to completing a move to Atletico Madrid after they announced they have reached a provisional deal for his services with Monaco.
The talented 22-year-old was the name on everyone’s lips last summer, with Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all heavily linked with the Frenchman.
It was Arsenal who seemingly came closest to signing Lemar, having a bid in excess of £90 million accepted on transfer deadline day, only for him to turn down the move due to the short time remaining in the window.
Since all the interest in him last summer, his form at Monaco has taken a severe hit, seeing his nine goals and 10 assists in the 16/17 Ligue 1 campaign, drop to just two goals and eight assists this season.
However, that drop in form seemingly hasn’t put Atletico Madrid off, who have announced that they have reached an agreement for his services.
“Atletico de Madrid and AS Monaco has achieved a preliminary agreement over the transfer of Thomas Lemar to our club,” read a statement released by Atletico on Tuesday night.
“Over the next days, both clubs will work to close the agreement for the definitive transfer.”
Lemar is currently away on international duty with France and both clubs are thought to be keen to finalise the transfer before the start of the World Cup, which gets underway on Thursday, with France playing their first game on Saturday.