The battle for Monaco’s best players is heating up and it is inevitable that the French champions will lose out on a number of players before the start of next season.

Liverpool are interested in Thomas Lemar, according to French publication Telefoot, and are in a tussle amongst four other teams for the talented left-winger.

The report claims that Premier League rivals Tottenham and Arsenal are after the signature of the 21-year-old. Italian Champions Juventus are also in the mix for the attack-minded player and want to add to their riches of talent in Turin.

Lemar did have a great season last time around as he scored 14 goals and provided 14 assists for Monaco. Lemar can be used on either side of the forward line and would add a lot of quality to any team.

The Ligue 1 side do have a bit of an advantage as they have ensured Lemar is contracted with the club till 2020. It would take a huge bid for Monaco to change their mind and they wouldn’t want to lose out on almost the entire starting XI from last season, or at least the most important players from it.

A fantastic attacking player but Anfield won’t be his home

The worst situation for us is with the number of clubs interested in the Frenchman. Lemar is talented and a bidding war with the other sides is something we will not get into and FSG certainly would not want to get into.

The report of us moving for Lemar also seems a little out of place now given that we are close to signing Mohamed Salah from AS Roma (Guardian). Lemar would not come to Anfield and play second fiddle to either Salah or Sadio Mane, and sitting on the bench too would be out of the question ahead of the World Cup.

We could have actually bid for him should we have missed out on our top targets but for now, it does seem this Frenchman will not be making Anfield his home anytime soon.