02/09/2026
βΌοΈπ₯ AS Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro explains what happened during the deadline day with Lamine Camara and Balogunβs failed moves to join Chelsea and Monaco respectively:
"We needed to generate money, pushed by the regulations. We had two topics in mind, selling Lamine Camara OR Flo Balogun⦠We made clear that our priority was to keep Lamine at the club. We were open to the transfer for Balogun."
"During the day, we had a clear agreement for Balogun to go to Everton. Balogun flew yesterday morning to go for his medical and sign a contract. Our plan worked very well in this moment..."
"This was the situation until mid-afternoon. What happened is that Chelsea was always testing and trying. 'What about Lamine? What about Lamine?'"
"Around 16:00 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? The answer was the same. No."
"Balogun was in Liverpool undergoing his medical. Everything was going pretty well. Around 19.00, we were contacted by Everton raising questions about Balogunβs medical which, for our medical staff, as well as for the playerβs personal medical staff, made no sense at all."
"And then, of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity. βOK, Monaco needs money' they thought. 'Balogun is struggling to get done. Letβs go. Letβs try.β And this is the game. Itβs fair to play this game. There is no problem."
"It was almost 20:00 and we started negotiations with Chelsea. I informed Camara directly myself. I called him. We had discussions about the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea. At the same time, the medical discussions were ongoing with Balogun. "
"And what happened was that around 22:00, Everton realised that, 'OK, there is no problem'. We are ready to do it. Letβs sign the contract."
βAs soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea and thought, 'OK, we have our deal there with Evertonβ¦ There is no deal on with Chelsea.' Itβs also fair to do this. Itβs also part of the game."
"Because of this we become the bad guys in the room. People say 'Monaco is not fair, Monaco is not right.' It's too much."
"Then with Balogun, we had 5 minutes to spare to finalise the deal. I signed the contract. Everton signed the contract. At the last moment, the player decided not to sign. "
"Balogunβs allegation is, 'Iβm not feeling well because of the way the club treated me. Iβm not feeling well because Evertonβs medical department raised doubts about my future or my health.. I have nothing, no medical issues, so Iβm not comfortable signing a long contract here'. "
"And thatβs how we finished our transfer window."