Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev admits Thomas Lemar was open to joining both Liverpool and Arsenal last week.
Both clubs had offers for the France midfielder accepted on deadline day.
"It was not easy. Thomas wanted to go to Arsenal and to Liverpool, but we had discussions and we made a joint decision so he would stay here," Vasilyev told TASS.
"He is a very important player for us.
"We could not sell him, it would have affected the whole team."
Source: tribalfootball.com