Chelsea’s deal to sign Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara has been cancelled in the final hour of transfer deadline day.
Earlier on Tuesday, Chelsea had a €45 million (£38.5m) bid for Camara rejected by Monaco, while their follow-up offer of €50m (£42.8m) was also turned down.
Chelsea finally reached an agreement with Monaco worth €55m (£47.1m) as the Ligue 1 side needed a sale and their £40m deal to offload Folarin Balogun to Everton hit a complication around two hours before the Premier League transfer window closed.
After initial concerns were raised during Balogun’s medical, a breakthrough was made with Everton which then led Monaco to pull the plug on their agreement with Chelsea for Camara.
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However, just over an hour after the 11pm deadline on Tuesday night, Balogun decided not to go ahead with the move to Everton and the United States international will remain at Monaco for the time being.
According to talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs, Chelsea are furious with Monaco as the Ligue 1 side believe they can receive a €70m fee for Camara.
Liverpool are also said to have contacted both Monaco and Camara that they will make their move next year.
After Balogun’s move to Everton collapsed, Chelsea were unable to resurrect their deal for Camara as Monaco had not signed the deal sheet for the Senegal international.
‘For those who are unaware, Chelsea tried twice for Lamine Camara, €45m and €50m, but it was rejected. Why? Because Monaco felt in a strong position to keep the player because they thought Flo Balogun was off to Everton, and he still might be,’ Jacobs told talkSPORT.
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‘Flash forward, Chelsea sell Enzo Fernandez [to Manchester City], late in the day there’s a question mark over Balogun, the French window closed earlier than this window so Monaco weren’t even able to bring in a replacement because Balogun is still being registered in their EU spots.
‘Then about two hours ago, Monaco get cold feet and say if there’s any doubt about Balogun we need to go to Chelsea and do this deal [for Camara] for €55m. By the way, two days ago they quoted Behdad Eghbali €70m, Chelsea say, ‘thanks very much, we’ve got a great deal here’, it’s formalised, we wait and see if it’s gone to a deal sheet.
‘Suddenly Monaco get double the cash for Lamine Camara and Flo Balogun but they couldn’t take the risk of Balogun getting done because they need money immediately.
‘Chelsea, even an hour ago, were formalising this move with complete confidence because from their perspective, Monaco were cashing in on both players.
