Liverpool reach agreement with Ligue 1 midfielder

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reports suggest Liverpool have already reached an agreement with Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar.

The Reds have targeted Lemar over the past 12 months, failing with a late bid to sign him last summer. The Frenchman was linked with a move to Anfield this month following the departure of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona, while Arsenal have also been keen on signing him. Yahoo Sport now reports that Liverpool have reached an agreement with Lemar. However, the club are refusing to meet Monaco’s valuation of €100m. The 22-year-old’s price could also rise if he impresses at the World Cup this summer in Russia. The report adds that Klopp has his heart set on the Monaco man but that Liverpool are unlikely to wait until the end of the season to make a move. However, the stumbling block is said to be our club’s reluctance to meet Monaco’s asking price. Lemar, whose campaign has been disrupted by a shoulder injury, has scored only twice in 16 Ligue 1 appearances so far this term. He is expected to leave Monaco in the summer and seems to prefer a move to England rather than Spain as he looks for a transfer away from French football. The 22-year-old was a vital cog in Monaco’s surprising league title win last season. The midfielder contributed 11 goals and 12 assists in 49 appearances in all competitions last term, as Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco shocked Paris Saint-Germain for the Ligue 1 championship. However, speaking at the start of the month, Jardim insisted Lemar would not be sold in the winter transfer window at any cost. Monaco are not in the habit of making big sales in the winter. It’s our strategy. The players understand and they know how it goes here,” Jardim told reporters, as quoted by Express. Speaking last week, our manager refused to rule out transfer business at the club in January. “If something jumps in my face, maybe we would think about it but we don’t actively try to find new players that we don’t know,” said Klopp. It remains to be seen if Monaco will budge down a bit and accept our offer for Lemar. If that happens, it would be a huge coup for Klopp.