Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara has spoken publicly for the first time about his failed deadline day move to Chelsea, saying he is trying to move on and focus on the season. The Blues had agreed a £47m deal with the Ligue 1 club on the final day of the transfer window, but the move collapsed at the 11th hour.
Camara opens up on turbulent deadline day
Camara described the period as "a somewhat turbulent and difficult time," but stressed his commitment to remaining professional. He said: "But that's part of a player's life. I tried to remain professional, avoid dwelling on it, and move on so I could quickly focus on the upcoming match in Paris (September 4, a 2–1 win). Once it was over, there was no point thinking about it."
Asked whether he wanted to join Chelsea, Camara said: "Saying that now would imply I'm no longer fully present with the team. Yes, there was a possibility I might leave, but it didn't happen at the last minute. These things happen. Look at the example of Julian Alvarez with Atlético Madrid. It happens all over the world, and I'm trying to turn the page as quickly as possible to focus on the season."
Replacement for Enzo Fernandez
Camara was intended to be a direct replacement for Enzo Fernandez, who completed a big-money switch to Manchester City. He added: "If it doesn't come back around, it will be because I gave up or didn't work hard enough. If I keep going like this, I know I can help the team perform well. Football moves fast, and perhaps other chances will arise. But for now, I'm staying focused on the season."
Monaco sporting director explains collapse
Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro gave his account of the events in the days after the window closed. He said: "We started to open negotiations with Chelsea for Lamine. I informed the player directly myself. I called him. I informed his agent as we always do. Very open. We had discussions between the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea. At the same time, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balo."
Scuro explained that Everton initially agreed to sign Folarin Balogun, but the deal fell apart. He said: "And what happened was that around 10:00pm in our time here, maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised that okay, there's no problem. We are ready to do let's sign the contract. Chelsea was always testing and trying. 'What about Lamine? What about Lamine?' I've been talking to them from the last 10 days. As soon as we got the information, yes, we did came back to Chelsea and told 'okay, we have our deal there'."
Scuro added: "There is no deal on Lamine because it's also fair to do this. It's also part of the game. There's no reason that this kind of discussions or dynamic on the last day of the transfer window which all of us decided to be on the last day trying to find solutions with the clock ticking in our neck that now this kind of interaction becomes the bad guys in the room that Monaco is not fair, Monaco is not right. Everybody is very fair and nice in football industry just Monaco is not too much. So this is the storytelling."
Scuro detailed how the Balogun deal unravelled: "We informed again everyone that there was no deal with Chelsea. We progressed. Premier League has a mechanism which you can request one extra hour to finish the paperwork. This was done five minutes to close the transfer window there for us to finish all the paperwork between Monaco and Everton and Balo. I signed the contract. Everton signed the contract. At the last moment the player decided not to sign and basically the allegation of Balo is that 'I'm not feeling well by the way the club treated me. I'm not feeling well'. By the way, the medical department of Everton brought doubts about my future or my healthy. I have nothing. So, I'm not comfortable to sign a loan contract here. And that's the way we finish our transfer window."
