Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal were unsuccessful in their attempt to lure Thomas Lemar away from Monaco on transfer-deadline day.
The Gunners had been tracking the France international all summer long as they sought a replacement for wantaway forward Alexis Sanchez, who was on the radar of Premier League rivals Manchester City.
Reports emerged on Thursday suggesting that Arsenal had made a shock British-record bid of £92m for Lemar, only to pull out soon after when it became apparent that a deal would not be finalised in time.
Asked to comment on the speculation for the first time, Wenger revealed that the late breakdown in talks was purely down to the 21-year-old wanting to remain at the Stade Louis II.
"The player has chosen to stay at Monaco," he told beIN Sports. "I know we live in an era of transparency but at some stage, to respect everybody, you have to not talk too much about that. You have to respect what happens on the negotiation side."
Lemar went on to score twice in France's 4-0 win over the Netherlands on Thursday evening and later stressed that he is "very happy" at Monaco.
