Lamine Camara: Monaco pull out of selling midfielder to Chelsea in £47m deal after Blues agreed deal for Enzo Fernandez replacement
Chelsea were looking for a midfield addition after letting Enzo Fernandez join Manchester City in a £125m deal, which is a joint-record for a British club; Monaco pulled out because they successfully renegotiated a deal to sell Folarin Balogun to Everton
Wednesday 2 September 2026 00:28, UK
Monaco have pulled out of the deal to sell Lamine Camara to Chelsea - who feel the French club have acted in an extraordinary and deeply unprofessional way.
Camara was set to join Chelsea for £47m and was to sign a six-year deal pending a medical.
Just after the 11pm transfer deadline passed, news emerged that Monaco reneged on the agreement they had with Chelsea, and they had informed the Blues of their decision in writing.
The reason for Monaco pulling out was that they had successfully renegotiated the deal to sell Folarin Balogun to Everton. There was a full written club-to-club agreement with Chelsea to complete the Camara deal.
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Chelsea were looking for a new midfielder with Enzo Fernandez joining Manchester City in a joint-British-record £125m deal.
Chelsea had the option of pulling the plug on Fernandez's move to Man City after the Camara deal had collapsed, but they stuck to their word and honoured their commitment to complete the deal.
Roma's Manu Kone was also shortlisted as a potential option, while Chelsea were also looking at midfield options in the Premier League.
'Chelsea are really unhappy'
Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol:
"Enzo Fernandez is going to be a Manchester City player. Lamine Camara to Chelsea collapsing is totally separate.
"Chelsea have not been able to sign a replacement. Chelsea are really unhappy with the way Monaco behaved.
"My information is everything was done - written, agreed, signed. He was flying into London [on Wednesday].
"At the same time, Monaco have been negotiating with Everton to sell Folarin Balogun. Once they have agreed a deal with Everton, they have come back to Chelsea and gone back on their agreement.
"Chelsea don't believe this is the way clubs should conduct business. I suppose this is one the risks you take when you leave things so late."
Who has left Chelsea on Deadline Day?
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez has completed a season-long loan move to Serie A side Como.
The goalkeeper had been bumped down to Stamford Bridge following the arrival of Emi Martinez from Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, midfielder Dario Essugo has completed a season-long loan move to sister club Strasbourg. Essugo was of interest to Hull in this window.
Striker Deivid Washington has completed a permanent transfer to Strasbourg. He signed from Santos for £17.1m three years ago but made only three appearances.
Forward Dujuan Richards has also joined Wimbledon on a season-long loan.
Meanwhile, Chelsea striker Shim Mheuka has arrived in Glasgow ahead of his loan move to Celtic, who are also working to finalise a deal for Chelsea left-back Landon Emenalo.
