Monaco CEO breaks silence on failed Camara move to Chelsea
by Moronfolu Adeyemi · The Eagle OnlineAS Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has explained the club’s side of the story behind Lamine Camara’s failed deadline-day move to Chelsea.
Camara was the subject of persistent interest from Chelsea, but Monaco initially made it clear that its priority was to keep the Senegal international for his third season at the club.
Scuro said Chelsea had been asking about the 22-year-old midfielder for 10 days, repeatedly returning with the question: “What about Lamine? What about Lamine?”
The situation changed on deadline day after Chelsea completed the sale of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.
“Around 4 p.m. yesterday, we got a contact from Chelsea.
“Okay, we sold a player in this position (Enzo Fernandez). Deal done. Is there any possibility that Monaco is open to selling Lamine?” Scuro said.
“The answer was the same. No.”
At the time, Monaco was expecting Folarin Balogun to complete his move to Everton after the forward travelled for his medical.
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However, Everton later raised concerns about Balogun’s medical, prompting discussions between the clubs’ medical teams.
Scuro said Chelsea then saw an opportunity as the situation surrounding Balogun’s transfer became uncertain.
“Chelsea saw the opportunity. ‘OK, Monaco needs money. Balogun is struggling there. Let’s go. Let’s try.’ And this is the game. It’s fair to play this game. There is no problem,” he said.
“Chelsea came and called us.
“Oh, maybe I can be here for the solution.
“And at that moment, we had to open the door for the discussion.”
Scuro said Monaco subsequently opened negotiations with Chelsea for Camara and that he personally informed the player and his agent.
“This was almost 8 p.m.
“We started negotiations with Chelsea.
“I informed the player directly myself. I called him. I informed his agent, as we always do. Very open,” he said.
However, the situation changed again when Everton resolved the issues surrounding Balogun’s medical and indicated that it was ready to complete the transfer.
According to Scuro, Monaco then returned to its original position on Camara.
“As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea and thought, OK, we have our deal there.
“There is no deal on it. Because it’s also fair to do this. It’s also part of the game.”
Scuro defended Monaco against criticism over the decision, arguing that deadline-day negotiations were dynamic and should not result in the club being portrayed as the “bad guys”.
“There is no reason that these kinds of discussions are dynamic on the last day of the transfer window, which all of us decided to be on the last day, trying to find solutions, with the clock ticking, that now this kind of interaction [sees us] become the bad guys in the room,” he said.
“That Monaco is ‘not fair, Monaco is not right.
“Everybody is very fair and nice in the football industry. Just Monaco is not.’ Too much.”
The Monaco CEO said the club was now happy that Camara had remained at the club and expected him to continue performing.
“We are very, very happy that Lamine stayed. We want to be strong on the pitch. We want to grow this season, and we are going for that,” Scuro said.
He acknowledged that Camara may have been excited by the prospect of joining Chelsea and said the midfielder had asked the club to find a solution for him to leave.
“On Lamine, I really respect and understand. Because the player might have got excited yesterday during the day by conversations with the coach.
“By everything that a club like Chelsea can propose and promise to a player,” Scuro said.
“At the end of the day, he also asked us to try to find a solution for him to leave. But again, we explained the reasons why we did what we did. And now we’re going to keep respecting and working with him.”
Scuro said he remained confident that Camara would continue to build his career at Monaco and could receive even better opportunities in the future.
“Knowing his mentality and his character, we can expect him full power in the next game. And he’s going to keep building his career.
“As with many other players, better things will come in the future.
“This is not the end of the world.
“It’s just one possibility for a player on his level with his talent.
“I’m very confident that soon he will have even better options and offers than the one he had yesterday.”
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