Arsenal want Thomas Lemar 'at all costs' after seeing opening bid rejected by Monaco

Arsenal are desperate to sign Monaco forward Thomas Lemar "at all costs" despite seeing their opening bid for the France international rejected.

The Gunners have already seen a reported offer of £31m ($40.2m) turned away by the Ligue 1 champions, who are determined to hold onto the 21-year-old star who finished the 2016-17 season with a superb haul of 14 goals and 17 assists in all competitions.

Latest reports from Le Parisien go as far as to suggest that Monaco have told Kylian Mbappe, another player to be heavily linked with a move to north London, that no other members of their star-studded championship-winning side will be sold this summer once Tiemoue Bakayoko completes his move to Chelsea.

Monaco have already sold one of last season's stars in Bernardo Silva to Manchester City and are determined to ensure Bakayoko is the last high-profile name to leave.

Interest in Lemar is high, however, with L'Equipe's latest report listing seven clubs as interested parties, including Barcelona and Manchester United.

Arsenal's interest is said to be the strongest, but their formal offer, believed to be in the region of €40m plus bonuses, has fallen on deaf ears. Monaco now want to offer the player a new contract in a bid to put an end to speculation surrounding his future, but interest from the red half of north London does not look to be going away with Arsene Wenger determined to sign the former Caen youngster.

With Alexis Sanchez's future at Arsenal looking bleak and no sign of a contract extension in sight, Wenger is looking to rebuild his attacking options this summer. Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette is also part of that plan, but, like with Lemar, Arsenal have so far been frustrated in their attempts to prise the player away from France.

It was reported last week that Arsenal had submitted a new club-record bid of £44m for the French international with Atletico Madrid also in the mix, despite a transfer ban prohibiting them from registering new players until January 2018.

But Lyon club president Jean-Michel Aulas has now indicated that the 26-year-old could remain at the club this summer.