Atletico Madrid open to Thomas Lemar's move to Arsenal?

Atletico Madrid have reportedly made contact with super-agent Jorge Mendes to try and broker a deal with Arsenal for French attacker Thomas Lemar.

The Frenchman, who is presently on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, has struggled during his time with Atleti and has managed just three goals from 65 appearances.

As a result, the Spanish outfit appear open to the prospect of sanctioning his departure and they have now communicated with Mendes, who has a close relationship with Gunners chief Raul Sanllehi, Marca claims.

Atleti bought Lemar from Monaco for £63m in the summer of 2018 but they are unlikely to receive a similar price, given the forward's drop in performance levels.

The Gunners are unlikely to negotiate a permanent deal for Lemar this month but they could propose a short-term loan for the campaign with the option for a purchase next summer.

Lemar was the subject of a club-record £92m bid from the clubs when he was at AS Monaco in 2017. Back then, the Principality outfit were reluctant to do business.