Journalist Hints Liverpool Will Move for Monaco Winger Thomas Lemar This Summer

Thomas Lemar could join Naby Keita at Anfield next summer after Liverpool flexed their financial muscle to secure the signing of long-term target Virgil van Dijk, according to the Daily Telegraph'schief football correspondent, Jason Burt.

The French winger was apparently on the brink of moving to Arsenal during the summer in a deal worth £92m. However, Lemar, who was away on international duty and playing for Les Bleus on deadline day, was unable to get a deal to north London finalised.

Liverpool were also linked with Lemar late in the summer window, and speaking on Sky Sports' show, the Sunday Supplement, Burt suggested that the winger is still a target for the Reds.

"My reaction when the deal [for Virgil van Dijk] went through was, 'that is about £15m more than I expected him to go for," Burt said. "But then my reaction after that was, 'yes, he is the one that they need and maybe they could now finish second with him going in there now.' Now if he does that, then it is worth it.

"You have Naby Keita coming next year, you possibly have Thomas Lemar coming next year and they are moving in that direction now.

"And also with that level of fee, you are now talking about Liverpool in terms of the money Man City have spent, the money Man Utd spend, they are moving ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham in terms of the sort of fees they are paying now.

"So it moves them to a different sort of level suddenly in terms of their ambition and the way people might perceive them and you start to look at the team slightly differently now."