One source with connections to both Chelsea and Monaco said the clubs had “played with fire and got burned”.
Indeed, the late-night transfer drama that involved Folarin Balogun, Everton, Monaco, Lamine Camara and Chelsea saw all parties lose out.
Camara – a 22-year-old Senegalese international midfielder – had been a target for Chelsea as they prepared for the £125m sale of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.
But Monaco were adamant he was going nowhere for the fee Chelsea were willing to pay.
“I’ve been speaking to them for the last 10 days,” said Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro said.
“At around 16:00 BST yesterday we got contact from Chelsea. The answer was the same: no.”
Instead, the Ligue 1 club had allowed United States international striker Balogun, 25, to fly to Merseyside to complete a £40m move to Everton. According to Monaco, Camara had agreed to stay with the club.
With three hours remaining of the transfer window, Chelsea were content with their midfield options, despite the sale of Fernandez, after failing with enquiries for Camara and Roma’s Manu Kone.
But issues with Balogun’s Everton medical saw the door open again for Chelsea at the £47m price point Chelsea had previously offered. Negotiations were back underway with Monaco at 20:00 BST.
Meanwhile, Everton failed to find alternatives to Balogun and revived their move with minutes before the deadline.
Chelsea had completed all the necessary paperwork for Camara and did not need to submit a deal sheet – a request to the Premier League for additional time to complete a transfer, post the deadline.
But the plug was pulled. Monaco acknowledge Camara was disappointed after he had spoken to manager Xabi Alonso, passed a medical and signed a contract until 2033.
“What happened was that around 22:00 BST our time, maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised there was no issue and decided they were ready to sign the contract [for Balogun],” Scuro told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
“As soon as we received that information, we came back to Chelsea and said there was no deal. Because that’s also fair. It’s part of the game.”
Chelsea were left furious, claiming Monaco informed them in writing that the deal would not proceed rather than communicating the decision by phone.
Monaco thought – by signing a deal sheet, five minutes before the 23:00 BST deadline, to allow Everton extra time to complete the transfer of Balogun – they had secured the sale they needed to help comply with Uefa’s financial regulations.
The Ligue 1 side were under pressure to generate 150m euros in player sales this summer, and had raised 106m euros from departures.
