Enzo Fernandez finally made his long-awaited move to Manchester City in the eleventh hour of the summer transfer window as he leaves Chelsea to be reunited with manager Enzo Maresca in a move for roughly £125m, the joint-record British transfer fee, along with Alexander Isak's move from Newcastle to Liverpool last summer.
The Argentine midfielder had pushed for the move throughout the summer window after his involvement with Argentina at the World Cup, and he's now had his wish fulfilled after featuring only once in the West Londoners' first three matches this season. He came on to a considerable howl of jeers from traveling Chelsea fans at Craven Cottage in the second half of their 3-2 win over Fulham and now bids farewell to Stamford Bridge.
Lamine Camara Deal Off
After A LOT of moving parts on deadline day, Chelsea were set to bring in Lamine Camara from AS Monaco to replace Fernandez in a deal worth €55m on a six-year plus one contract. There was a written deal in place between the two clubs, but the French club's deal to sell striker Folarin Balogun to Everton was revived, causing the Camara transfer to collapse.
Chelsea initially had two bids rejected for Camara before finalising the sale of Fernandez to Manchester City, and the Premier League club were then set on not bringing in a replacement on deadline day.
However, Monaco decided to revisit their deal with Everton for Balogun, despite the Toffees having previously backed out due to complications during the player's medical.
Essentially, Monaco's posturing for trying to get the most they could from Everton for Balogun caused Camara's agreed deal to move to Chelsea to fall apart altogether, which Chelsea are not too happy about, rightfully so. Xabi Alonso is now left with one less midfielder in his squad, adding insult to injury after Moisés Caicedo limped off in the second half of Chelsea's 4-3 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed the situation on X:
"AS Monaco cancel Lamine Camara-Chelsea deal after a written agreement between clubs, as they proceed with Balogun sale to Everton. Chelsea are FURIOUS as call it a deeply unprofessional way to conduct business."
An "Ambitious" Option Chelsea Is Left To Rue Missing Out On
Camara was described as an 'ambitious player' by last season's Monaco manager Sébastien Pocognoli, who's now the head coach of the Scottish national team after getting sacked by the Ligue 1 side.
"Lamine is having a very good season. He trains very well, and it shows in his weekend matches. He's an ambitious, focused, and very professional player with enormous potential and still a lot of room for improvement, both defensively and offensively. He has all the qualities to become a very important player for the future of the club," Pocognoli raved after Monaco had defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs, but they ultimately wound up losing 5-4 on aggregate.
That particular match showcased just what a bright talent Camara is. The 22-year-old has tallied 6 goals and 11 assists in 75 appearances across all competitions since joining Monaco and has been a key part of their undefeated start to the season, with PSG up next in Ligue 1. He was also called up to the Senegal national team for the World Cup and clocked a total of 251 minutes from the four matches he featured in, boasting a passing accuracy of 87%.
Replacing Fernandez, a player who's just equaled the British record transfer fee, was never going to be a cut-and-dried feat for Chelsea, but they had everything lined up and were good to go to bring Camara in. He's a young, talented, creative, and pacey midfielder who had every potential to flourish under Alonso's management, but now the Spaniard and Chelsea will be left to ponder the what-ifs.
