Liverpool transfer rumour: Reds have an agreement in place with AS Monaco's Thomas Lemar

Liverpool are reportedly looking to secure AS Monaco forward Thomas Lemar as the Reds have an agreement in place to bring the French international to Anfield.

According to Yahoo Sport, the Premier League club have an agreement in place with Lemar in order to bring him to the club. However, they are yet to agree a fee with AS Monaco, who are demanding €100m (£87.5m, $123.3m) to sanction his sale.

The Merseyside club will be hoping to convince the Ligue 1 winners can lower their asking price for the 22-year-old, if they are unwilling to meet their asking price.

Lemar has scored two goals and registered five assists in 16 Ligue 1 appearances this season. The Reds have long been interested in signing the player, while Arsenal have also registered interested in the past.

Arsene Wenger's side came close to securing his signature on the deadline day of the summer transfer window. However, the player decided against leaving Monaco which in turn saw Alexis Sanchez's move to Manchester City being blocked last summer.

The Chilean international though has left the north London club and has now completed a switch to Manchester United in January. Arsenal, on the other hand, have signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a part of the Sanchez deal.

Klopp's side and the Emirates club have been closely monitoring Lemar's progress for more than a year. Liverpool and Arsenal were handed an encouragement by Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim in their pursuit of Lemar. He admitted the French champions could be open to the idea of allowing the winger leave in 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 explained.

"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."

Any move from Liverpool or Arsenal in signing Lemar will see them face competition from Barcelona. The Mirror reports the Frenchman has declared Camp Nou as his No.1 destination, despite attracting interest from the Premier League.

The Catalan club signed Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool for a club-record fee of £142m in January. Ernesto Valverde's side have added Lemar to the list of targets for the next summer transfer window.