Published: 14:01 BST, 2 September 2026 | Updated: 14:12 BST, 2 September 2026
Some supporters whose focus is fixed on English football might not have heard of Lamine Camara before Chelsea agreed to sign him for £47million on deadline day. He’s 22 years old, an international for Senegal and a tenacious midfielder for Monaco.
They have heard of him now, a few fans even suggesting what happened with the promising Camara on Tuesday evening spoiled an otherwise successful summer. We will get to why that is something of an overreaction in a moment, but first, there is no question it made for a messy end to the window.
Camara had completed medical tests in Monaco overseen by Chelsea staff on standby. He had spoken with Xabi Alonso to understand his plans for him. He had agreed a six-year contract with the option of an additional 12 months. A private plane had been arranged to fly him to London on Wednesday morning to begin a new chapter in his career because a full, written, club-to-club agreement was in place.
Then it collapsed, with Monaco informing Chelsea in writing that they were cancelling the transfer, minutes before the 11pm deadline and with the French side declining to sign a deal sheet which would have given everyone an extra two hours to resurrect it.
That would have been helpful when Monaco's Folarin Balogun then decided at 12am that he did not fancy being transferred to Everton. Monaco needed the money and got none.
Chelsea are angry at Monaco. Some of that anger might also be aimed at themselves for leaving it so late to sign a replacement for Enzo Fernandez and running such a risk. It felt an inevitability that Fernandez would leave this summer. There was too much smoke. In the end, he was sold and not replaced.
Enzo Fernandez was no stranger to a yellow card during his time at Chelsea, who are pleased with the fee they got from Manchester City for him
Morgan Rogers (right) is already linking brilliantly with his mate Cole Palmer and looks like a great signing despite the hefty fee
However, this singular failing should not cloud what was overall a corrective window for Chelsea after a campaign in which they finished 10th in the Premier League.
Of the 20-man squad that Chelsea took to Sunderland on the final day of last season, 10 were sold or loaned, Fernandez included. A cultural reset was required. There were still some Enzo Maresca soldiers in the ranks. Liam Rosenior never stood a chance as his successor. Alonso only wanted to keep those totally committed to the cause.
Since BlueCo acquired Chelsea in 2022, nobody had been booked more for dissent than Fernandez, cautioned 12 times for bad behaviour. He was one of those who added to the narrative that this team was too ill-disciplined to succeed. Maresca clearly liked that competitive edge he carried as his vice-captain.
So Chelsea sold Fernandez to City for a big bag of cash – as big as any ever secured in English football, tied with that which Newcastle nabbed from Liverpool for Alexander Isak. Fernandez is a fine footballer, but it is hard to think this 25-year-old Argentinian is worth a fixed fee of £125m even in this silliest of summers.
Chelsea got themselves a good deal from that perspective, particularly after City opened negotiations by proposing a payment of £104m plus add-ons. While Chelsea wanted closer to £135m, they ended up making a profit on a player they signed for £106.8m from Benfica in 2023 and who never truly lived up to that price tag’s hype.
The hair in the soup is that they did not then replace Fernandez. They tried over the summer. They bid £64m for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott in July. They held talks for Roma’s Manu Kone. They chased Camara. Signing nobody for the midfield was a disappointment, and that view will be shared internally at Chelsea after how deadline day unfolded.
