Monaco chief executive Thiago Scuro has defended the club's handling of a chaotic transfer deadline day, rejecting anger from Chelsea over the late collapse of a deal for midfielder Lamine Camara.
Scuro held a press conference on Wednesday to address the fallout from the final hours of the summer transfer window, during which proposed Premier League moves for both Camara and forward Folarin Balogun dramatically fell apart.
Chelsea were left furious when the Ligue 1 club pulled the plug on Camara's move to Stamford Bridge. However, Scuro insisted that Monaco were not the bad guys in the scenario, explaining that the decision to keep the midfielder was forced upon them by complications surrounding Balogun's proposed transfer to Everton.
Deadline day is the final 24 hours of the summer trading period for European football clubs, often characterised by frantic negotiations and last minute deals. Monaco plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, while Everton and Chelsea compete in the English Premier League.
Balogun is a forward who had been expected to join Everton. Camara is a highly rated midfielder for Monaco, and the club had already rejected several approaches for him throughout the summer.
Everton medical complications
According to Scuro, Monaco were willing to sell Balogun but were desperate to keep Camara. The club communicated this stance to Camara earlier on deadline day to reassure him of his place in the team.
"During the day, we had a clear agreement for Balogun to go to Everton," Scuro said. "Balogun flew yesterday morning to go for medicals and sign a contract."
He added: "Balogun, besides the salary, was also an important source of income for the club. And then, Lamine would stay. This was what we had until mid afternoon."
Scuro revealed that Chelsea had been testing the waters regarding Camara for the previous 10 days. The London club made a renewed push for the midfielder at around 4 p.m., informing Monaco that they had finalised the sale of Enzo Fernandez.
Fernandez is a midfielder whose departure freed up space in the Chelsea squad for a replacement.
Monaco rejected the approach for Camara, as Balogun was undergoing his medical in Liverpool at that moment, and everything was progressing well. However, the situation changed at approximately 7 p.m. when Everton contacted Monaco to report issues with Balogun's physical health.
Chelsea deal discussed
Scuro said the medical concerns raised by Everton made no sense at all to Monaco's medical staff, nor to the player's personal medical representatives.
As discussions continued with Everton regarding Balogun's fitness, the collapse of that transfer appeared likely. Consequently, Monaco entered into discussions with Chelsea over a deal for Camara.
"And what happened was that around 10 p.m., maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised that, OK, there is no problem," Scuro said. "We are ready to do it. Let's sign the contract."
"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 [Camara]'. Because it's also fair to do this. It's also part of the game."
Balogun pulls out
Scuro firmly rejected the suggestion that Monaco had acted improperly towards Chelsea in the closing hours of the window.
"There is no reason that these kinds of dynamic discussions 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 this kind of interaction sees us become the bad guys in the room," Scuro said.
"Putting that on Monaco is not fair. So this is the story. We informed, again, everyone that there was no deal with Chelsea. We progressed with Balogun."
In a dramatic final twist, Balogun made the decision not to proceed with the move to Everton just as the paperwork was being finalised. Scuro said the player was left deeply upset by the initial doubts Everton had raised about his health.
"Balogun's allegation is that 'I'm not feeling good because of the way the club treated me. I'm not feeling good because Everton's medical department raised doubts about my future or my health. I have nothing [no health problem], so I'm not comfortable signing a long contract here'," Scuro said.
"And the reality is that when Balo mentioned to us this feeling that he was not comfortable, he didn't want to sign. We didn't see ourselves in a position to push him. We had to respect his decision."
Future prospects
Scuro expressed sympathy for both players following the collapse of their respective transfers, acknowledging the stress of the sagas.
While both men remain at the Principality club for now, Scuro suggested that Balogun could still depart in the coming days to a league where the transfer window remains open.
The chief executive also stated his belief that Camara could move on to better things in the future, despite missing out on the move to Stamford Bridge.
