Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has denied suggestions linking the club with moves of David Luiz and Thomas Lemar from Chelsea and AS Monaco respectively this month.
Luiz, 30, has recently emerged as a transfer target for the north London giants with Wenger alleged to be searching for an experienced head in the central defensive position.
In contrary, Lemar has continued to be associated with the club despite Monaco clarifying that the Frenchman won’t be sold midway through the current season.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Wenger refused to involve himself with other club players, but confirmed that the reports linking both Luiz and Lemar were false, he said: “I don’t want to speak about any special name but these reports are wrong.”
Meanwhile, the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere have entered the final six months of their respective contracts, but Wenger has clarified that there has not been a formal offer yet for any of the trio, he added: “We have not been contacted by anybody.”
When asked on his transfer plans for the month, Wenger went with his cliché statement of trying to find an ‘exceptional player’ whilst hinting that any business could be directly related to the departures of one of their contract rebels.
He concluded: “We are open in any position for the exceptional player that can give us a plus. It depends a bit on the injuries as well, on the other hand it depends who will manage to extend the contracts of the players who are at the end of their contracts in June.”
Arsenal are currently six points off a potential Champions League spot, and Wednesday’s game versus Chelsea is a potential must-win, if they are to stay aloft in the top-four hunt during the second half of the campaign.
Injuries to Laurent Koscielny and Sead Kolasinac are likely to hamper the Gunners prior to the London derby, and the fans could remain optimistic of a positive result versus the Blues after victories in four of the last five meetings, including two Wembley triumphs in the FA Cup final and Community Shield.
