Lamine Camara Focuses on Monaco After Chelsea Move Collapse
Lamine Camara insists he has “turned the page” on his collapsed move to Chelsea and is locking in on Monaco’s Ligue 1 campaign after a chaotic end to the transfer window.
The 22-year-old midfielder had gone as far as completing a medical ahead of a proposed £47.1m switch to Stamford Bridge, only for the deal to fall apart in the final hours before the deadline. What looked like a career‑defining move vanished in the space of an evening.
Two Chelsea bids had already been knocked back earlier in the summer, with Monaco holding firm and signalling it would take a “substantial fee” to prise the Senegal international away. As the window ticked towards its close, Monaco softened their stance and lowered their asking price, with the club under pressure to make at least one major sale.
The situation grew even more tangled around Folarin Balogun. With the forward’s transfer to Everton suddenly in doubt late in the window, Monaco appeared ready to cash in on Camara instead. When Balogun’s move then seemed to be back on again, the Ligue 1 side looked to reverse course on selling their midfielder.
In the end, the twist was brutal for all involved: both Balogun and Camara stayed put.
“There was a possibility I could leave,” Camara said ahead of Monaco’s game against Strasbourg on Saturday. “It didn’t go through at the last minute and that’s part of football. I’ve turned the page and am focusing on the season.”
Sources in France had maintained throughout the summer that Monaco needed to bank a significant fee and would rather offload Balogun than lose their influential midfielder. The club’s internal message was clear: Camara would only go for serious money.
On the pitch, the noise has not derailed Monaco. They opened the season with three straight Ligue 1 wins and went into the weekend sitting second behind Rennes, with a game in hand and early momentum on their side.
“I can help the team a lot,” Camara said. “Football moves fast. Maybe other opportunities will come along. But for now, I’m staying focused on the season with Monaco.”
The move to Chelsea may have slipped away, but with Monaco flying and a full campaign ahead, Camara knows another window – and another chance – is never far away.
