The latest claims from France on Liverpool and Thomas Lemar made Sport Witness think: If AS Monaco are set against selling the attacker then why do they continue talking to Liverpool?
A collection of French claims brought by RMC on Wednesday evening has one standout point in this respect: ‘discussions are still going on between the two clubs’
That comes a day after L’Equipe said talks were ongoing, and it wouldn’t be hard to find a multitude of other claims in English, French, and Spanish (the Coutinho angle) claiming sources say talks continue.
In Catalonia, Sport say Barcelona are waiting for the ‘white smoke’ from Liverpool and Monaco talks, which would tell Barca a deal is agreed and give hope on Coutinho.
If Monaco were 100% behind the not for sale stance then there’d be no need to continue talks. A firm no, followed by another firm no, and a firmer no. That’s not really being in talks.
Perhaps it’s just like at the end of the summer 2015 transfer window, when Anthony Martial wasn’t for sale. Manchester United managed to agree a deal with Monaco, which looked huge at the time but not so big now.
Monaco don’t have a not for sale stance, it’s just a matter of someone coming up with the right price for the current circumstances.
The alternative is that talks haven’t been going and the French and English media are twisting the situation to try and get more mileage out of it.
