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Cape Town - AS Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev revealed it was an executive decision to keep Thomas Lemar at the club as the player was keen on an English Premier League switch.
Liverpool and Arsenal were strongly linked with the France international winger last month, and the Gunners saw a £90m bid accepted by the Ligue 1 club.
However, after the deal fell through at the last minute as rumours brewed that the 21-year-old was not keen on Europa League football.
Vasilyev has now come out to deny the claims in English media and revealed that the club's hierarchy convinced the star forward to remain at the Stade Louis II, in order to continue with their ambitious project.
"It was not easy," he told Russian outlet TASS. "Thomas wanted to go to Arsenal and to Liverpool, but we had discussions and we took a communal decision so that he could stay here.
"He is a very important player for us. We could not have sold him, it would have affected the entire team and the individuals."
Since joining the Ligue 1 Champions from Caen last year for a nominal fee of £3.6million, Lemar has scored 19 goals and registered 24 assists in 94 games.
