Chelsea thought they had their man. Lamine Camara was set to arrive from Monaco for £47m, with a six-year contract waiting for the Senegal international after his medical, but the deal collapsed in extraordinary fashion after the transfer deadline.
The shock came just after 11pm, when Monaco informed Chelsea in writing that they were pulling out of the agreement. The French club had already reached a full club-to-club agreement with Chelsea, but refused to sign the required deal sheet before the deadline.
The reason was linked to another transfer. Monaco had renegotiated a deal to send Folarin Balogun to Everton, but the striker sensationally backed out at the last moment.
Monaco had planned to sell only one player. Once they believed Balogun was heading to Everton, they decided to keep Camara and walked away from their agreement with Chelsea.
Chelsea are understood to view Monaco’s conduct as extraordinary and deeply unprofessional. There is now no prospect of resurrecting the Camara deal, leaving the Blues to consider other midfield options.
The situation is made even more striking by Chelsea’s own conduct on deadline day. The club had an opportunity to pull the plug on Fernandez’s move to Manchester City after the Camara deal collapsed, but chose to honour its commitment.
That decision could add an extra edge to the fallout between the clubs. In the world of transfers, agreements and trust matter almost as much as the money involved.
Chelsea had also considered Roma midfielder Manu Kone. Premier League midfield targets were another option as the clock ran down.
