Monaco explain why Lamine Camara’s late Chelsea transfer collapsed

Monaco have explained why a proposed move for Senegal midfielder Lamine Camara to Chelsea fell through in the final hours of the summer transfer window.

Thiago Scuro, Monaco’s chief executive, said the club’s position throughout the window had been that Camara should remain with them, despite interest from several clubs.

Scuro said Monaco had received multiple offers but had consistently made their preference clear.

“We received offers from several clubs during the summer transfer window. Our message was always the same: our priority was for him to stay with us,” he said at a news conference.

According to Scuro, Camara had also indicated that he wanted to continue at Monaco and help the club. The executive said he spoke directly to the player after training on the morning before the deadline.

“Until yesterday morning, after the end of the training session, we had a direct conversation with Lamine Camara, and it was a very friendly one. During that conversation, he also showed his desire to stay and help the club. That was the situation until the middle of the afternoon,” Scuro said.

Chelsea continued to enquire about the player, however, with Scuro saying the Premier League club repeatedly asked about the possibility of a deal.

“What happened was that Chelsea kept asking questions and trying. They were always asking: ‘What about Lamine?’” he said.

Scuro said he had been in contact with Chelsea for 10 days before the situation changed after Monaco received a call at about 16:00 on deadline day.

“I had been speaking to them over the previous 10 days. At around four o’clock yesterday afternoon, we received a call from Chelsea. They told me: ‘OK, we have sold a player in this position. The deal is done. Is there any possibility that Monaco could be open to selling Lamine?’”

Monaco initially maintained the same stance and rejected the approach. But Scuro said Chelsea then became involved in discussions surrounding Monaco forward Folarin Balogun, whose proposed transfer to Everton had appeared at risk of collapsing.

“The answer was the same: no,” Scuro said. “When I was asked about the developments after the Balogun transfer to Everton initially seemed likely to fail, I said, of course there was a possibility of completing the deal, and Chelsea believed Monaco needed the money.”

He said Chelsea subsequently presented themselves as a possible solution to the situation, forcing Monaco to reconsider whether discussions over Camara should take place.

“Chelsea called us and said: ‘Maybe we can be the solution.’ At that moment, we had to open the door to discussions,” Scuro added.

Negotiations over Camara began at about 20:00, with Scuro contacting the player directly and informing his agent, in line with Monaco’s usual procedure.

“It was getting close to eight o’clock in the evening, and we started negotiations with Chelsea over Lamine. I contacted the player directly myself. I called him and informed his agent, as we always do. We were very open,” he said.

The proposed transfer was ultimately ended when Everton confirmed it was ready to sign Balogun. Scuro said that information reached Monaco at about 22:00 local time, or shortly before, after which the club told Chelsea there would be no deal for Camara.

“What happened was that at around 10 o’clock our time, or perhaps a little earlier, Everton realised there was no problem and decided it was ready to sign the contract,” he said.

“Once we received that information, we went back to Chelsea and told them there was no deal. Because that is also fair. That is the nature of the game.”