Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro has explained the details of the failed transfer involving Lamine Camara and Folarin Balogun to the Premier League on the transfer deadline day.

Scuro confirmed that there were talks with Chelsea about the sale of Camara following Enzo Fernandez's departure to Manchester City, but Xabi Alonso's side did not make the deal a priority until the final moments of the summer transfer window.

He explained that Monaco were reluctant to lose two key players in the last minutes of the transfer window, and they had to pull the plug on Chelsea when Balogun was having his medical at Everton.

Balogun, however, made the personal decision to decline a move to Hill Dickinson Stadium despite the two clubs having reached an agreement.

MONACO DIRECTOR SCURO CLEARS AIR ON DEADLINE DAY DRAMA

The last-minute U-turn by Monaco infuriated Chelsea, with the Stamford Bridge outfit unable to replace Fernandez, having already been dealing with Moises Caicedo's injury concerns.

While reactions continue to trail the failed deals, Monaco's sporting director has given a detailed brief of how Tuesday deadline day unfolded at the club. Scuro said (via Liverpool Echo):

"The allegation of Balogun is that, 'I'm not feeling well by the way Everton treated me, the way the medical team brought doubts about my future or my health. I'm not comfortable to sign a long contract here'.

"What happened in the afternoon, Chelsea was always testing and trying for Camara.

"I was in contact for the last 10 days. Around 4pm, we got a call from Chelsea, 'OK, we sold a player (Enzo) in this position, is there any possibility that Monaco would sell Camara? The answer was the same. No.

"Balogun was in Liverpool going through his medical, around 7pm, we had a call from Everton raising questions on the medicals of Balogun, which for our medical staff, the personnel staff of the player, made totally no sense.

"This was ongoing; meanwhile this was in the press quite quickly, it was already in the media that Balogun is failing the medical and of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity, 'Monaco needs money, Balogun is strugglng there, let's go, let's try.'

"On this moment, we had to open the door for the discussion, we started conversations for Camara, I informed the player directly, I informed his agent, we had discussions for the conditions for Camara to go to Chelsea. Meanwhile, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balogun.

"Around 10pm, Everton realised there is no problem. As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea that we have our deal there and there's no deal for Camara. It's fair to do this, it's part of the game.

"This was done five minutes before the close of the transfer window for us to finish paperwork between Balogun and Everton. "I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, but at the last moment the player decided not to sign."

WHAT NEXT FOR LAMINE CAMARA & FOLARIN BALOGUN

Following the failed transfer deals, Camara and Balogun will shift their focus to helping Monaco maintain their impressive start to the 2026-27 season.

Filipe Luís' men have won their first four competitive games this season, including two Ligue 1 wins.

Camara, 22, has played every minute of Monaco's games this season, while Balogun, 25, is yet to make his mark as he continues his recovery from an injury.

Monaco's next hurdle is a trip to Parc des Princes for their next Ligue 1 fixture against reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain on Friday.