Chelsea saw their move for Lamine Camara collapse in the final hours of transfer deadline day and the midfielder is now faced with returning to Monaco at least until January
Lamine Camara
Lamine Camara was back in Monaco training(Image: Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)
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Monaco ace Lamine Camara was immediately back in training after seeing his transfer to Chelsea fall through on transfer deadline day. The Ligue 1 side pulled the plug on the deal after putting an agreement in place with the Blues, leaving the west Londoners furious.
Camara had asked to leave Monaco ahead of the window closing and Chelsea came to a £47million agreement for his signature. However, when Monaco expected to complete the sale of Folarin Balogun, they reneged on their agreement with Chelsea and chose not to sign a deal. Ultimately, Balogun decided against joining Everton as Monaco's plans were left in tatters.
A frustrating evening for Camara does not appear to have impacted his attitude yet, however. Reports in France suggest he was focused in training and received a 'warm embrace' from his team-mates when the team warmed up, ahead of preparations for the clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro also revealed that the midfielder's attitude is positive and that he's been professional throughout the transfer saga, with Chelsea first making contact 10 days ago and Xabi Alonso personally speaking to the player.
Camara has been reassured by Monaco chief Scuro that he will realise a move 'very soon'. The French football chief suggested that he would have better options available in the future, potentially risking Chelsea's wrath further.
"To talk about Lamine, we have been approached by several clubs during the summer, the message has been always the same: It is our priority that he stays," Scuro explained.
"Even yesterday after training, we had a conversation with Lamine directly which was very OK and friendly, where he also showed the desire to stay and that he was happy at the club."
"On Lamine, I really respect or understand because the player might have got excited yesterday by conversations with the coach and by everything that a club like Chelsea can propose or promise for a player to go," he added. "At the end of the day he also asked us for a solution to go."
Scuro also attempted to explain the process by which exits for Camara and Balogun both fell through on Tuesday evening, revealed that he had been in conversation with Chelsea for more than a week.
"What happened in the afternoon, Chelsea was always testing and trying for Lamine, I was in contact for the last 10 days," he explained. "Around 4pm, we got a call from Chelsea, 'OK, we sold a player in this position, is there any possibility that Monaco would sell Lamine (Camara)' the answer was the same. No.
"Balo was in Liverpool going through his medical, around 7pm, we had a call from Everton raising questions on the medicals of Balo which for our medical staff, the personnel staff of the player, made totally no sense. The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns for the future of the player, this discussion started for medical departments, it took Everton two to three hours to check through the assessment, this is a normal situation.
Ex-Arsenal star Folarin Balogun also saw his move from Monaco collapse on deadline day
Ex-Arsenal star Folarin Balogun also saw his move from Monaco collapse on deadline day(Image: Getty Images)
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"This was ongoing, meanwhile, this was in the press quite quickly, it was already in the media that Balogun is failing the medical and of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity, 'Monaco needs money, Balo is strugglng there, let's go, let's try.' This is the game.
"On this moment, we had to open the door for the discussion, we started conversations for Lamine, I informed the player directly, I informed his agent, we had discussions for the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea. Meanwhile, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balo.
"Around 10pm, Everton realised there is no problem. As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea that we have our deal there and there's no deal for Lamine. It's fair to do this, it's part of the game.
"Premier League has a mechanism where you have one extra hour to finish the paperwork, this was done five minutes before the close of the transfer window for us to finsh paperwork between Balogun and Everton. I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, at the last moment the player decided not to sign."