Barcelona tried their luck to sign Arsenal and Liverpool target Thomas Lemar on Friday but Monaco were demanding €120m (£109.9m), reports Mundo Deportivo.
The La Liga giants desperately scrambled to try and use the remainder of the money raised from Neymar’s £193m departure to strengthen their offensive options on deadline day for Spanish clubs but came up short in their attempts.
Barcelona were put off a deal for former Real Madrid ace Angel di Maria after Paris Saint-Germain refused to lower their €60m (£55m) asking price, while Monaco also increased Lemar’s valuation in the wake of late interest from the Catalonian side.
Monaco accepted Arsenal’s £90m offer on Thursday only for Lemar to turn down the chance to join the Gunners before quoting Barcelona £109.9m in order to prise the 21-year-old away from the Principality Club.
Lemar has started all four of Monaco’s Ligue 1 games this season and has already provided two assists in that time. Indeed, Lemar has registered the most assists from set-pieces in Ligue 1 since the start of last season (7).
