A huge twist in Chelsea's proposed move for AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara with the deal now off after the Ligue 1 club went back on their word
Lamine Camara
Lamine Camara is no longer moving to Chelsea(Image: Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images)
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Chelsea's proposed move for AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara is now off after the Ligue 1 went back on their word following a full club-to-club agreement, football.london understands.
The Blues had reached a written agreement with Monaco, understood to be a £47million fixed fee, but a deal is no longer in place. Chelsea were given an opportunity to sign Camara for a reduced fee after Folarin Balogun's proposed move to Everton fell through.
The Toffees had a £42.5m agreement in place with Monaco, who were reliant on the fee. But there were complications during the American striker's medical tests and that gave the Blues a chance to sign Camara with just hours of the window remaining.
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The west Londoners struck a written agreement with Monaco. The Ligue 1 outfit have performed a remarkable U-turn, though, leaving Chelsea officials furious.
Chelsea wanted to sign Camara following the record-breaking departure of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City earlier on in the day. The Blues agreed the £125m (fixed fee) transfer with hours of the window remaining and at the time, sources said there was no guarantee that there would be any more signings before the deadline despite negotiations for Camara earlier in the day.
Initially, Chelsea had two offers turned down for Monaco, who were prepared to play hard-ball at the time given they were set for a windfall from the Balogun deal. As soon as that was thrown into doubt, though, they panicked and lowered their asking price for Camara.
Chelsea took advantage of that, or at least that is what they thought. Monaco pulled the plug on the deal and have risked damaging their relationship with the Blues as a result.
Interestingly, Stamford Bridge insiders insist they had the opportunity to follow suit and pull the Fernandez to City deal but instead decided to keep their word.