Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro has explained why Chelsea’s Deadline Day move for Lamine Camera collapsed, and how it was affected by Everton’s failed move for team-mate Folarin Balogun.
The Ligue 1 side had made it clear keeping the midfielder was “our priority” despite approaches by “several clubs” over the summer and Chelsea, “always testing and trying”.
However, the Blues’ interest stepped up after they agreed to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.
“I’ve been speaking to them for the last 10 days,” explained Scuro (via BBC Sport).
“Around 16:00 yesterday we got contact from Chelsea – ‘OK, we sold a player in this position. Deal done. Is there any possibility Monaco are open to selling Lamine?’
“The answer was the same: no.”
However, reports then began to emerge of issues in Balogun’s Everton medical and Chelsea “saw an opportunity” as Monaco needed a sale.
“It’s fair to play this game,” said Scuro. “There is no problem.
“Chelsea called us and said, ‘maybe we can be the solution’.
“At that moment, we had to open the door to discussions. I contacted the player directly myself. I called him. I informed his agent, as we always do. We were very open.
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“We had discussions about the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea. At the same time, the medical discussions regarding Balogun were ongoing.”
But, there was time for another twist, despite Camara completing a medical in France and Chelsea expecting the deal to go through.
“What happened was that around 20:00 our time, maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised there was no issue and decided they were ready to sign the contract,” added Scuri.
“As soon as we received that information, we came back to Chelsea and said there was no deal. Because that’s also fair. It’s part of the game.”
Chelsea were left furious when the club say they were informed by Monaco in writing that a deal for Camara would not go ahead but Scuro insisted the Ligue 1 side did nothing untoward.
“There is no reason these discussions, which are always dynamic on deadline day, should suddenly make Monaco the bad guys in the room,” he said.
“Everyone in football is trying to find solutions with the clock ticking. Monaco are not doing anything different.”
