It’s been five years since Liverpool ultimately failed when making a late transfer swoop to sign Thomas Lemar from AS Monaco. With Barcelona pursuing Philippe Coutinho, the France international was Jurgen Klopp’s first-choice replacement for the Brazilian.
The Reds saw an initial £55.8m bid and a second offer of £64.8m rejected by the French outfit late in the month as transfer deadline day loomed, with their swoop for the midfielder coming having already rejected three bids from Barcelona for Coutinho. And with the Catalans’ third offer worth £114m after the Brazilian had submitted a transfer request, Liverpool were well-aware that the La Liga outfit were not likely to give up on signing the playmaker.
However, any late Reds move for the Monaco man as a replacement on transfer deadline day was complicated by his involvement in France's World Cup Qualifier against the Netherlands at the Stade De France in Paris that night - a game in which he actually scored an incredible long-range effort. Sporting director Michael Edwards even sent medical staff to Paris in case they needed to conduct a medical, however, Liverpool would ultimately not make a fresh offer after Monaco upped their asking-price following a £92m bid from Arsenal.
