Atletico Madrid winger Thomas Lemar has made a decision on his future in the Spanish league finally according to the newest reports coming out of his native France.

Thomas Lemar has struggled for form at Atletico Madrid since he joined the Spanish La Liga giants at the start of the 2018/19 season and that led to the transfer rumours of him moving away from the Spaniards with the likes of Arsenal, Lyon and Tottenham Hotspur interested in him.

Recent reports even talked about the possibility of a swap deal involving Thomas Lemar and Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette.

• Finally, Jadon Sancho To Chelsea Transfer Decision Made, Details Of Talks Revealed(Opens in a new browser tab)
• EPL: What Will Happen To Unai Emery After Another Poor Arsenal Performance(Opens in a new browser tab)
• EPL: How Wilfried Zaha Will Join Chelsea In January Ahead Of Man Utd Revealed

French international Lacazette came close to signing for Atletico Madrid before his move to Arsenal from Lyon and he would have signed for the Rojiblancos if not for the FIFA transfer ban imposed on them in the summer of 2017.

It was not really surprising that Lacazette was linked with an Atletico Madrid transfer again in a swap deal that will see Lemar join the Gunners but that won’t be possible after the former AS Monaco man made a decision on his future at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

According to Le10Sport from France, Thomas Lemar has decided to stay at Atletico Madrid who paid £51m to sign him from AS Monaco in 2018.

According to The Sun, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has told defender Shkodran Mustafi that he won’t stand in his way if the German wants to leave the Gunners in this window.

Mustafi earns £90,000 per week at Arsenal and he has just 18 months left on his contract.

The Arsenal centre back is reportedly willing to leave the club this month in search of regular football and Mikel Arteta has given his blessing for him to move away from the North London outfit.

Mikel Arteta has made his position known on a potential Mustafi exit despite the lack of centre back options at his disposal mainly due to injuries and loan deals.

• EPL – Mustafi Set To Leave Arsenal On Loan For New Club(Opens in a new browser tab)
• Arsenal In Talks To Sign Gremio Centre Back Walter Kannemann(Opens in a new browser tab)
• Arsenal Boss Reiterates Support For Underfire Mustafi

Apart from Mustafi, Arsenal have just three centre back options namely Sokratis Papasthathopoulos, David Luiz and Rob Holding.

Calum Chambers has been the best centre back at Arsenal this season but the England international won’t play again until next season after his knee surgery last month.

He sustained the injury during the home game against Chelsea in December 2019.

Another centre back options Kostantinos Mavropanos has joined Nurnberg in the German Bundesliga II on loan for the rest of this campaign.

Turkish giants Galatasaray are the obvious transfer options for Mustafi in his quest to leave Arsenal.

The widely reported move for AC Milan midfielder Frank Kessie is in serious doubt for Premier League outfit Arsenal according to Sky Sports Italia after the Gunners were put off by the asking price for the 23-year-old midfielder.

Frank Kessie has been at AC Milan since the summer of 2017 when he joined the Rossoneri from fellow Italian top flight club Atalanta in 2017.

The Ivorian international is available for a transfer away from AC Milan this month and Arsenal have been mooted as his likely destination.

It was revealed by the above mentioned publication that Arsenal have made an enquiry for Frank Kessie and were quoted £22m (€25m) for him.

That asking price has put off Arsenal for a transfer for the former Atalanta player.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is keen to boost his squad in both defence and midfield though his transfer focus is shifting towards his defence due to the several injuries to his players.

The likes of Calum Chambers, Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney are long-term injury absentees for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.

One of the defenders linked with a transfer to Arsenal is Laryvin Kurzawa who is on the payroll of French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint Germain (PSG).

Arsenal face an uphill battle to sign Getafe defender Djene Dakonam with several clubs interested in a deal for him during this January winter window.

This is according to The Sun which revealed in one of its publications that the Gunners are in contention with as many as five clubs for the Getafe player.

North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Everton, AS Monaco and fellow London club Crystal Palace are all in the mix to sign the Togolese international player alongside Arsenal.

Djene Dakonam has been one of the best defenders in the Spanish La Liga over the last two seasons.

The 28-year-old was named in the Team of the Year for each of the last two seasons.

French giants AS Monaco have already made a £12.8m bid for Djene Dakonam but Spanish club Gefate are not ready to do a deal unless they receive a £22m offer for him.

Djene Dakonam and Getafe have one of the best defensive records in the league this season with 20 goals conceded in just 19 games which is three goals lesser than league leaders Barcelona who have conceded 23 goals this season.

Arsenal have several injury problems defensively and Djene Dakonam could ease those defensive worries.

Arsenal have reportedly pulled out of the race to sign Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare according to the publication via the Daily Mirror.

It was revealed that the Gunners no longer have an interest in the French midfielder who has played for various France youth teams but he’s yet to make his senior debut for the two-time world champions.

Arsenal alongside the Spanish La Liga duo of Valencia and Real Madrid have all decided not to pursue a move for the highly rated Boubakary Soumare who will be 21 in February.

He has played 23 games for Lille in all competitions since the start of this campaign and this tally includes six Champions League matches.

The above mentioned publication also said that with the trio of Valencia, Real Madrid and Arsenal out of the transfer equation, Boubakary Soumare has to choose between Manchester United or Chelsea for his next club.

Manchester United are closing in on the signing of another midfielder Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon and they could make it two midfielders in this window with Soumare who won’t decide on his future until the end of this month.

The player will wait until after the PSG game on January 26 to decide his next club.

Premier League giants Arsenal are lining up a £6m bid for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) defender Laryvin Kurzawa according to French publication RMC Sport.

Arsenal have a lot of injuries to defenders and they have turned to French international Kurzawa who has six months remaining on his PSG contract.

According to journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi of RMC Sports, the Gunners were keen on signing Laryvin Kurzawa when he becomes a free agent in the summer until the injury to the recent injury to one of their defenders, Sead Kolasinac.

The Bosnian international left-back picked up an injury in training this week and he’s a big doubt for the Premier League clash at home to Sheffield United this weekend.

Sead Kolasinac is a doubt for the Sheffield United game on Saturday evening alongside midfielder Lucas Torreira as revealed by Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal have a lot of injuries to defenders at the moment especially in the fullback areas.

Hector Bellerin has barely been fit for Arsenal this season after a long-term knee injury.

The Spaniard right-back is still struggling for fitness with a tight hamstring problem.

The Gunners are also without the likes of Calum Chambers and Kieran Tierney who are long-term injury absentees.

Arsenal are targeting two loan signings before the January transfer window ends in two weeks time.

This is according to respected British journalist David Ornstein who covers Arsenal a lot.

In his podcast known as Ornstein & Chapman, David Ornstein said that the target areas for Arsenal and new manager Mikel Arteta are the left side centre back, fullback and centre midfield positions.

David Ornstein said that Arsenal won’t be spending money in this window and that they would rather wait till this summer to fully back Mikel Arteta in the transfer window.

• Arsenal Signing Of This Player Would Perfectly Fit What Mikel Arteta Says They Badly Need(Opens in a new browser tab)
• Europa League: Key Man Utd Player Ruled Out Of Partizan Belgrade Clash(Opens in a new browser tab)
• Mikel Arteta’s First January Signing? Arsenal Table £40m For Star Player

In the past days, Manchester City star John Stones has been linked with the North London giants as they try to sign a centre back to offset the loss of Calum Chambers to a serious knee injury.

John Stones can’t guarantee that Pep Guardiola will play him consistently and he’s said to be weighing up the interest from Arsenal and Mikel Arteta whom he has a close relationship with at the Etihad Stadium before the Spaniard left for North London.

Apart from John Stones, AC Milan midfielder Frank Kessie is another transfer target for the Gunners though his club would prefer a permanent deal ahead of a loan move.

Arsenal have made inquiries about the possibility of signing AC Milan midfielder Frank Kessie this month via the publication from Metro.

The Gunners were interested in the Ivorian international under the managerial reign of legendary boss Arsene Wenger and it seems like the North Londoners have resurrected their interest in the player who has been one of the shining lights for an AC Milan team struggling in 10th position on the Italian Serie A table.

Corriere dello Sport is a popular Italian transfer news platform and a publication from the publication said that Frank Kessie is available for £21m amidst the interest from another London club in West Ham United.

• EPL: Another Loss Predicted For Arsenal This Weekend(Opens in a new browser tab)
• Chelsea target coming to London(Opens in a new browser tab)
• PSG accept Barcelona fee for Neymar

New West Ham United manager David Moyes wants to strengthen his squad in midfield before this winter transfer market ends and Frank Kessie is on his radar.

For Arsenal, the club is focusing on the loan market as confirmed by manager Mikel Arteta in one of his recent interviews.

Also, the focus is more on the defense rather than midfield at the moment.

Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have been linked with a loan swoop for Manchester City defender John Stones who is keen to move away from the Premier League champions in search of regular first-team football that will boost his opportunity to make the England team for the Euros.