Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has conceded Thomas Lemar and Fabinho could both leave at the end of the season after admitting the Ligue 1 champions are a selling side.
The French side raised more than £150m on player sales over the summer and will bank a further £163m next summer when Paris Saint-Germain make Kylian Mbappe’s transfer permanent.
Leonardo Jardim’s side could have pocketed even more money had they been more receptive to interest in Lemar and Fabinho, but Vasilyev has conceded both could end up leaving at the end of the current campaign.
Lemar wanted to move to the Premier League and was keen to join one of Liverpool or Arsenal but Vasilyev conceded the club blocked any potential move as the aforementioned English sides left it too late with their offers.
“These offers came late, very late, in the market so once you cannot replace a player they [the offers] become even more difficult to accept,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “We plan and when it’s the last days it’s very difficult.
“I don’t want to confirm the figures [Arsenal offered for Lemar] but it was about that [€100m]. It was too late to make all the components work – to find a replacement; reach an agreement. It was just too late. But in the end I am very happy because we always wanted to keep Thomas.
“He wanted to go to the Premier League and I had a few discussions with him and I said ‘stay, stay, stay’ but, of course, when the offers were very, very high, higher than we initially expected then we had to talk, to discuss. But in the end we were very happy.
The Monaco chief also revealed he expects both sides to renew their interest in Lemar at the end of the season, while hinting Fabinho could also leave as “we realise at a certain moment it’s right to let players go.”
“We understand that we are basically a selling club and we accept that but at the same time we are in a good financial situation so we don’t have to sell and we want to keep the club competitive. This is not about making money, it’s about being successful. So there is always this balance.”
Since the start of last season, only Morgan Sanson (14) has provided more assists in Ligue 1 than Lemar (12).
