Chelsea Transfer News: Thomas Lemar Deal Reportedly Requires Massive Offer

Chelsea are reportedly still interested in a January move for AS Monaco winger Thomas Lemar but will have to raise an offer that "cannot be refused" in order to convince the Ligue 1 club to part with their star. 

French newspaper L'Equipe (h/t Sport Witness) reported Monaco could once again turn down offers around the €100 million (£88.6 million) mark in the winter transfer window.

In the summer, Ligue 1 Show presenter Matt Spiro tweeted (h/t Uche Amako of the Daily Express) that Arsenal had a £90 million bid for the 22-year-old accepted, but the player's preference was to join Liverpool instead.

Both Chelsea's Premier League peers remain linked with the player, as are Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and Lemar recently offered a look at the quality that's attracting the attention of those big names, via Goal:

The Blues could soon be in need of a new star on the left flank, too, after seeing Eden Hazard embrace his new role as the club's No. 10, where he's dazzled in a supplemental role behind striker Alvaro Morata.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said in November (h/t Vaishali Bhardwaj of the Evening Standard) that the Belgian has evolved to become the leading No. 10 in the top flight:

"Chelsea have changed now, Hazard is playing like a striker. He had sort of gone off the radar because of his injury. I thought he was player of the season last year [N'Golo Kante won the award]. I thought it should have been him.

"If I think of all the No. 10s in the Premier League—[Mesut] Ozil, [Alexis] Sanchez, [Christian] Eriksen, Dele Alli and Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool—I still have him as No. 1."

If Hazard is to continue in his duties as a more central hub of Chelsea's attack, the club could justify spending big in order to land Lemar, even though his performances this season have failed to match those of last term.

Blues manager Antonio Conte also spoke highly of Hazard's production in the position:

Lemar has scored only two goals and grabbed four assists in 18 appearances across all competitions this season, with Monaco not the same force they were after selling some of their biggest stars in the summer.

There's also the matter of Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim's recent comments to L'Equipe (h/t Press Association, via ESPN FC) that his side will be more open to selling players in January after seeing their European campaign come to an end:

"We only have three competitions now and we will need to reduce the squad. Monaco have never had a big winter transfer window while I've been here.

"Some will need to play elsewhere. The priority is to reduce the group, more than bringing in players.

"When you close up the group, everyone is more focused. I will have 18 players with me, plus one or two youngsters, and that will be good."

The opportunity to make a major profit on Lemar, who was signed from Caen for a relatively paltry €4 million (£3.54 million) in 2015, per L'Equipe (h/t Get Football News France), may again be deemed too big an opportunity to turn down.

Provided Chelsea can stump up the funds, the Blues could be on to a profitable signing that suits their January requirements.