Thomas Lemar and the problem with transfer rumors

Arsenal’s shopping spree continues, as sources are reporting that Thomas Lemar and, more to the point, Monaco, has been more receptive to Arsenal’s advances now that they’ve brought more money to the table. There are even outlets that are reporting that Lemar has agreed to a move, and that the winger will join as soon as Arsenal and Monaco agree on a fee, rumored to be in the €45m (£40m) range.

Problem is, one of those outlets is something called afcstuff...

...and the other one is the Sun. As a site that prides itself on thinking critically and trying to get to the bottom of things, rather than just shouting louder than everyone else, this presents us a conundrum.

Do we run with these things, knowing that the former source is very much ITK and the latter source is a flaming pile of dogshit that I wouldn’t even use to protect my floors when I’m painting my house? I mean, our choices are to talk about it or ignore it until we get a more reliable source, but with the speed of the news cycle these days, ignoring it means you would probably go elsewhere for your Arsenal news, right?

So, for stories like this, we always try to walk the fine line separating HEY THIS IS HAPPENING JUST LOOK AT THE INTERNETS WOW THIS IS COOL and Wait A Minute These Aren’t The Best Sources Let’s Just Pump The Brakes Here For A Second. It’s in that spirit that we bring you this - Thomas Lemar may be an Arsenal player in a couple days. Or he may not, we’re not sure, and we’re not going to lean on these two sources exclusively in order to claim one or the other.

We will, of course, have more as this develops.