The Gunners were trying to complete a last-minute deal for Monaco winger Lemar with hours to go until the end of the window.

But Lemar was playing for France against Netherlands that same night which proved a massive stumbling block to the deal getting done.

The fact Lemar snubbed Arsenal resulted in Manchester City's move for Alexis Sanchez falling through. A deal between the two clubs had already been agreed but the Gunners pulled the plug when they couldn't get a replacement.

Talking on the Sky Sports Transfer Talk podcast, Dharmesh Sheth said: "Arsenal have had a longstanding interest in Thomas Lemar. Monaco have basically said they won't be selling him in January but the likelihood is he will leave in the summer.

"You'll remember on deadline day in August, £90m-plus bid was made by Arsenal and it was accepted."

But while the bid was accepted, Lemar was not playing ball.

Magee added: "They left it too late. The player was in Paris preparing for a World Cup qualifier.

"You can't negotiate with a player hours before he plays a game unless you intercept a Eurostar or something.

"If you're paying £90m for a player, it looked that day like they were getting £60m or £65m back from Sanchez going to Manchester City.

"Obviously he's a dwindling asset, his contract is out in the summer and he'll now only command £30m or £35m.

"That's a big gap to make up towards £80m to £90m now,"