Chelsea are interested in signing Thomas Lemar (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea have entered the race to sign Monaco playmaker Thomas Lemar and are likely to bid for the Frenchman in the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old was heavily linked with an exit from the Ligue 1 winners last summer and he looked certain to join Arsenal on deadline day after the Gunners placed an £89million bid.

However, his move to the Emirates was dependent on Manchester City meeting Arsenal’s asking price for Alexis Sanchez and, as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to do so, Lemar stayed in France.

Liverpool had shown interest earlier in the window but had a £72m bid rejected and Monaco stand to earn even more from Lemar’s departure in 2018.

Monaco are already nine points behind PSG (Picture: Getty)

Monaco have failed to replicate their form of last season and crashed out of this term’s Champions League at the group stage.

The French giants will struggle to hold onto Lemar in January and Chelsea are said to be keen on signing him, according to L’Equipe.

Antonio Conte missed out on a number of his top targets last summer, including Romelu Lukaku, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alex Sandro.

Chelsea’s title defence appears all but over after a 1-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday saw them slip 14 points behind leaders Manchester City and Conte wants signings in January to bolster his pursuit of the Champions League.