The perils of procrastination came to the fore on Thursday.
Arsenal and Manchester City, instead of working throughout the summer to find a solution, waited until the final day of the transfer window to try to close a pair of conjoined deals, and in the end, each ended up walking away empty-handed.
Pep Guardiola's interest in Alexis Sanchez has long been established, but the Citizens didn't submit an official offer until Wednesday. When reports Thursday suggested an improved bid of £55 million plus another £5 million in add-ons was enough to close the deal, attention shifted to the Gunners - Arsenal, it was reported, would only green light the sale of the wantaway Chilean if a replacement was procured.
Enter Thomas Lemar.
A blitz for the French winger started Thursday, kicking off a wild few hours of action that saw the club agree to a mammoth fee, then drop out after being unable to reach personal terms with the player.
Related - Report: Arsenal runs out of time as €100M move for Lemar collapses
Here's how a madcap morning played out:
Arsenal, Manchester City reach Sanchez agreement:
Story with @ChrisWheatley_. City and Arsenal have verbally agreed a £60m deal for Alexis, but Arsenal want replacement (Lemar) first
— Sam Lee (@Sammy_Goal) August 31, 2017
That replacement was identified as Monaco's Lemar:
#afc focus now seems to be on landing one of Draxler or Lemar. Both big-money deals and time running out. Meanwhile, Sanchez must wait.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) August 31, 2017
After reports suggested Arsenal tabled a gargantuan €100-million bid, it seemed things had been sorted:
I'm told that Monaco and Arsenal have agreed a fee for Lemar but that it's now down to the player to decide if he will go #AFC
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 31, 2017
That left some scratching their heads at the scattergun approach from the Gunners:
July: Arsenal reject £10m for Kieran Gibbs & decide £52m is too much for Lemar.
— joshua jones (@joshuapsjones) August 31, 2017
August: Arsenal accept £7m for Gibbs & bid £92m for Lemar.
And then, it all fell apart:
Sanchez staying at Arsenal
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) August 31, 2017
No go on Lemar
As you were
Man City left it too late for Arsenal to entertain their bid and get it done
Unless there's a dramatic change, City up offer for Sanchez, Arsenal wilt, looks like Sanchez will stay at this stage. Lemar deal looks dead
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 31, 2017
Why the sudden change? The ever-reliable David Ornstein gave Arsenal supporters the cold, hard truth about Lemar's decision:
As others report #MCFC Sanchez bid over. Conditional agreement reached £55m+£5m but #AFC needed replacement. Lemar said no so Sanchez stays
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 31, 2017
And here we are. Lemar remains at Monaco, and Sanchez will be playing out the final year of his deal in north London.
