Liverpool and Arsenal boosted as Monaco boss suggests Thomas Lemar could leave in January

Liverpool and Arsenal have been given fresh hope in their pursuit of Thomas Lemar with AS Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim suggesting that the Ligue 1 side won't be able to "say no" if a crazy money offer arrives during the current January transfer window.

The 22-year-old forward was already tipped to make a move to a big European club in the summer after proving to be a sensation during the 2016-2017 campaign, scoring 14 goals and providing 17 assists to help Monaco to win the Ligue 1 title and reach the semi-final stages of the Champions League.

Lemar has only found the net three times this season but reports linking him with both Liverpool and Arsenal continue.

Arsenal had an offer worth around £90m to sign him accepted by Monaco after Arsene Wenger indentified him as the perfect fit to replace Manchester City target Alexis Sanchez.

But it was said that Lemar turned down the move to the Emirates Stadium on deadline day and consequently the Gunners also blocked the departure of Sanchez to Pep Guardiola's side.

Arsenal are said to be still monitoring the situation amid reports claiming that both City and Manchester United are trying to convince the Gunners to part ways with the Chile international this month.

Meanwhile, Liverpool were also linked with Lemar in the summer and the rumours have resurfaced following Phillipe Coutinho's departure to Barcelona.

Jurgen Klopp has already broken the bank this month to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton but still has money to spend from the £142m fee generated by the Brazilian's sale.

Earlier this week RMC Sport gave Liverpool and Arsenal fresh hope of securing his services after claiming that the Ligue 1 side are ready to listen to offers starting at €70m (£62m, $84m) for the coveted forward – considerably less than what the Gunners were ready to pay in the summer.

Jardim had suggested in recent times that Monaco won't let Lemar leave this month but the French boss appeared to back down from those claims after changing his tone during a press conference on Thursday (11 January.)

"Today, the market is open. You know how crazy the market is. Things happen that even a club like Monaco cannot say no to," Jardim said.

"It happened to Liverpool (with Coutinho). Things are as they are. The numbers today are incredibly big. Everything can change. The things I can say today are not true tomorrow. In the last two transfer windows, last summer and this winter, the numbers have gone up enormously. I still want to keep Lemar. If I stay here for 10 years I want Lemar to stay with me for 10 years. He is young, he can still play for 10 years. He has a lot of qualities, I like him a lot."

In the summer Monaco already were unable to "say no" to a number of tempting offers from the Premier League with Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva moving to Manchester City and Tiemoue Bakayoko completing a transfer to Chelsea.