Still gutted about this tbh.

Strategy over the window has geberally been excellent. All the players not good enough, with maybe tbe exception of Fofana, Gusto, Gittens, and Neto have all moved on, most for a profit, with only 3/4 that have been loaned to to deal with at a later date.

Great start to the season on the pitch, scoring goals, entertaining games.

But this Camara situation and the midfield in general I just find infuriating.

We clearly had £100m+ to spend going into last week. Now instead of coming in strong and making Monaco an offer they couldnt refuse last week. We spent £40m on another 18 year old we wont see for 12 months at the earliest, then fail to get any player in to replace Enzo.

Honestly just screams of all the issues we have had over the last 4 years, and why players like Enzo wanted to leave in the 1st place.

An injury to Caicedo now, and the season cluld very well be derailed, which could cost Xabi Alonso his job, we have seen this before.

Just feels like 1 steps forward and 2 steps back. Lets hope for some luck with injuries, we need Caicedo to play every game, and we need Lavia, and James to be available for 75%. Then rectify this January 1st.

51 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

The player didn't want to come here, and the manager wanted him to stay. He was prepared to lose Balogun but insisted Camara was vital to the team . This from a French football pundit on TalkSport this morning.

A French football pundit.

13 minutes ago, just said:

A French football pundit.

Spare us your private collection.

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

The player didn't want to come here, and the manager wanted him to stay. He was prepared to lose Balogun but insisted Camara was vital to the team . This from a French football pundit on TalkSport this morning.

He did want to come. A medical was booked, and terms were agreed.

CEO's statement basically confirmed he forced him to stay because a "better club", AKA the victims, told them they would come and pay a higher amount next year.

1 hour ago, big blue said:

Still gutted about this tbh.

Strategy over the window has geberally been excellent. All the players not good enough, with maybe tbe exception of Fofana, Gusto, Gittens, and Neto have all moved on, most for a profit, with only 3/4 that have been loaned to to deal with at a later date.

Great start to the season on the pitch, scoring goals, entertaining games.

But this Camara situation and the midfield in general I just find infuriating.

We clearly had £100m+ to spend going into last week. Now instead of coming in strong and making Monaco an offer they couldnt refuse last week. We spent £40m on another 18 year old we wont see for 12 months at the earliest, then fail to get any player in to replace Enzo.

Honestly just screams of all the issues we have had over the last 4 years, and why players like Enzo wanted to leave in the 1st place.

An injury to Caicedo now, and the season cluld very well be derailed, which could cost Xabi Alonso his job, we have seen this before.

Just feels like 1 steps forward and 2 steps back. Lets hope for some luck with injuries, we need Caicedo to play every game, and we need Lavia, and James to be available for 75%. Then rectify this January 1st.

He was never an option till a week ago, and we did make a £55m bid for a £35m player. There is no guarantee he would have been a success here, and if he is a bust he will be very hard to shift.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He did want to come. A medical was booked, and terms were agreed.

CEO's statement basically confirmed he forced him to stay because a "better club", AKA the victims, told them they would come and pay a higher amount next year.

Well, that's a different version. To be fair the French football pundit on TalkSport did say there were several versions of the situation doing the rounds.

I don't think we had made a bid for him before deadline day ?

I really don’t understand why we loaned Essugo out..or don’t recall him

We better not do something idiotic like bringing in Pogba on a free

1 hour ago, JM7 said:

I really don’t understand why we loaned Essugo out..or don’t recall him

The logical thing to do would be recall Essugo - if anything for a little athletic depth.

8 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He did want to come. A medical was booked, and terms were agreed.

CEO's statement basically confirmed he forced him to stay because a "better club", AKA the victims, told them they would come and pay a higher amount next year.

No, in fairness, Scuro has fronted the media and outlined a statement (transcript)

His initial words were taken out of context and it was only one Twitter moron (Ben Jacobs) who made up that Liverpool 'contacted' Monaco and asked them to wait. There's no evidence to support this, in fact it sounds like Jacobs has merely exaggerated the obvious fact that many clubs were interested in signing him either this season or next. It's clear Chelsea were the only ones making a concrete bid this season. Scuro even admits that Chelsea had been pursuing it for 10 days, but Monaco were unwilling to sell unless Balogun fell through.

The saga is entirely Monaco's fault, but we are also to blame for leaving it so late in the window and not protecting our own interests. Fernandez wasn't the CM we needed or were trying to replace, it was Santos. We got distracted by having to fire-sale a bunch of players and Sanchez and then pursued a target we knew was unlikely unless certain circumstances fell into place. Overall, though, it is not going to be a huge problem.

55 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No, in fairness, Scuro has fronted the media and outlined a statement (transcript)

His initial words were taken out of context and it was only one Twitter moron (Ben Jacobs) who made up that Liverpool 'contacted' Monaco and asked them to wait. There's no evidence to support this, in fact it sounds like Jacobs has merely exaggerated the obvious fact that many clubs were interested in signing him either this season or next. It's clear Chelsea were the only ones making a concrete bid this season. Scuro even admits that Chelsea had been pursuing it for 10 days, but Monaco were unwilling to sell unless Balogun fell through.

The saga is entirely Monaco's fault, but we are also to blame for leaving it so late in the window and not protecting our own interests. Fernandez wasn't the CM we needed or were trying to replace, it was Santos. We got distracted by having to fire-sale a bunch of players and Sanchez and then pursued a target we knew was unlikely unless certain circumstances fell into place. Overall, though, it is not going to be a huge problem.

55 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No, in fairness, Scuro has fronted the media and outlined a statement (transcript)

His initial words were taken out of context and it was only one Twitter moron (Ben Jacobs) who made up that Liverpool 'contacted' Monaco and asked them to wait. There's no evidence to support this, in fact it sounds like Jacobs has merely exaggerated the obvious fact that many clubs were interested in signing him either this season or next. It's clear Chelsea were the only ones making a concrete bid this season. Scuro even admits that Chelsea had been pursuing it for 10 days, but Monaco were unwilling to sell unless Balogun fell through.

The saga is entirely Monaco's fault, but we are also to blame for leaving it so late in the window and not protecting our own interests. Fernandez wasn't the CM we needed or were trying to replace, it was Santos. We got distracted by having to fire-sale a bunch of players and Sanchez and then pursued a target we knew was unlikely unless certain circumstances fell into place. Overall, though, it is not going to be a huge problem.

Yeah I don't buy his version that we were basically stalking the situation and were on him like flies on sh*t when the Balogun "medical issue" came up.

Far more plausible this Scuro panicked and came to us to bail them out, only to go back on it when he thought he could shift Balogun again, which was his boards and managers preferred option.

Just now, axman2526 said:

Yeah I don't buy his version that we were basically stalking the situation and were on him like flies on sh*t when the Balogun "medical issue" came up.

Far more plausible this Scuro panicked and came to us to bail them out, only to go back on it when he thought he could shift Balogun again, which was his boards and managers preferred option.

100%, the interview is of course his idealised version, but reading it a bit critically you can absolutely see he that is the case and he is trying to now pin it on Balogun for turning it down, and minimise Camara's disappointment at staying.

It's pretty obvious they came back to us when Balogun initially fell through and they needed a big sale. I'd go so far as to say that we probably could have reasonably felt like we were doing them a favour by not demanding a lesser price given their desperation. In the end, Scuro fumbled it badly, their club is going to face serious consequences if they can't flog someone to Turkey or Saudi by the end of the week, and they have two pissed-off players. He should get the sack for it. We were naive and dumb for relying on it, as well.

5 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

100%, the interview is of course his idealised version, but reading it a bit critically you can absolutely see he that is the case and he is trying to now pin it on Balogun for turning it down, and minimise Camara's disappointment at staying.

It's pretty obvious they came back to us when Balogun initially fell through and they needed a big sale. I'd go so far as to say that we probably could have reasonably felt like we were doing them a favour by not demanding a lesser price given their desperation. In the end, Scuro fumbled it badly, their club is going to face serious consequences if they can't flog someone to Turkey or Saudi by the end of the week, and they have two pissed-off players. He should get the sack for it. We were naive and dumb for relying on it, as well.

And how will Monaco bail themselves out now?

Camaras agent has since come out and said he won't be moving to Turkey or Saudi, and is staying at Monaco. So will Balogun agree to go to those countries? Or Portugal?

It would be amusing, albeit never going to happen, if those 3 markets refused to deal with Monaco for how they acted with us, Everton and their two players.

5 hours ago, JM7 said:

I really don’t understand why we loaned Essugo out..or don’t recall him

Or if you think he isn’t ready, bought Samir El Mourabet who Chelsea rejected a €35m bid from Leipzig from, and sell Essugo to them.

Chema Andreas who is billed as the next Rodri literally moved on the last day of the window for €22m, and Alonso is reportedly a fan. There were options for us in the market.

7 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

The logical thing to do would be recall Essugo - if anything for a little athletic depth.

Essugo is also injury prone

16 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

The player didn't want to come here, and the manager wanted him to stay. He was prepared to lose Balogun but insisted Camara was vital to the team . This from a French football pundit on TalkSport this morning.

If the player didn't want to come, he wouldn't have bothered to do a last minute medical

3 hours ago, markpitts said:

Or if you think he isn’t ready, bought Samir El Mourabet who Chelsea rejected a €35m bid from Leipzig from, and sell Essugo to them.

Chema Andreas who is billed as the next Rodri literally moved on the last day of the window for €22m, and Alonso is reportedly a fan. There were options for us in the market.

Neither of those players are likely to be more Premier League ready than Essugo may or may not be. Which actually makes it more surprising that BlueCo didn't try, in fairness.

Just now, Deino said:

Essugo is also injury prone

He had a single injury in his senior career at 20, how is that 'injury-prone'?

15 hours ago, big blue said:

Still gutted about this tbh.

Strategy over the window has geberally been excellent. All the players not good enough, with maybe tbe exception of Fofana, Gusto, Gittens, and Neto have all moved on, most for a profit, with only 3/4 that have been loaned to to deal with at a later date.

Great start to the season on the pitch, scoring goals, entertaining games.

But this Camara situation and the midfield in general I just find infuriating.

We clearly had £100m+ to spend going into last week. Now instead of coming in strong and making Monaco an offer they couldnt refuse last week. We spent £40m on another 18 year old we wont see for 12 months at the earliest, then fail to get any player in to replace Enzo.

Honestly just screams of all the issues we have had over the last 4 years, and why players like Enzo wanted to leave in the 1st place.

An injury to Caicedo now, and the season cluld very well be derailed, which could cost Xabi Alonso his job, we have seen this before.

Just feels like 1 steps forward and 2 steps back. Lets hope for some luck with injuries, we need Caicedo to play every game, and we need Lavia, and James to be available for 75%. Then rectify this January 1st.

More along the lines of 4 steps forward and a stepped on a Lego moment

4 minutes ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Neither of those players are likely to be more Premier League ready than Essugo may or may not be. Which actually makes it more surprising that BlueCo didn't try, in fairness.

He had a single injury in his senior career at 20, how is that 'injury-prone'?

I could have sworn he had 4 injuries already

10 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

No, in fairness, Scuro has fronted the media and outlined a statement (transcript)

His initial words were taken out of context and it was only one Twitter moron (Ben Jacobs) who made up that Liverpool 'contacted' Monaco and asked them to wait. There's no evidence to support this, in fact it sounds like Jacobs has merely exaggerated the obvious fact that many clubs were interested in signing him either this season or next. It's clear Chelsea were the only ones making a concrete bid this season. Scuro even admits that Chelsea had been pursuing it for 10 days, but Monaco were unwilling to sell unless Balogun fell through.

The saga is entirely Monaco's fault, but we are also to blame for leaving it so late in the window and not protecting our own interests. Fernandez wasn't the CM we needed or were trying to replace, it was Santos. We got distracted by having to fire-sale a bunch of players and Sanchez and then pursued a target we knew was unlikely unless certain circumstances fell into place. Overall, though, it is not going to be a huge problem.

Scuro said in his statement that Camara wanted to stay (which was a lie) and was quoted as saying, "I'm very confident that soon he will have even better options and offers than the one he had yesterday." Either he was talking out of his ass, or there is truth to Ben Jacobs' report.

We weren't totally sold on this bloke or we would have closed the deal several days earlier. If he goes to the bin dippers at least we will have increased their cost. Monaco and their CEO are not important to us in the grand scheme of things, and I think we have missed out on a player who would not have held down at starting place in our midfield. Hardly a disaster, what was his name again?

On 03/09/2026 at 12:41, OTL said:

We weren't totally sold on this bloke or we would have closed the deal several days earlier. If he goes to the bin dippers at least we will have increased their cost. Monaco and their CEO are not important to us in the grand scheme of things, and I think we have missed out on a player who would not have held down at starting place in our midfield. Hardly a disaster, what was his name again?

I actually disagree with this. I think this lad would have complemented our midfield and would have fit well into Alonso’s system.

The shame of this whole situation is that I think the lad wanted to join but if we have any balls we should never deal with Monaco again whilst this clown works for them, meaning the whole Camara deal will just slide past. Shame really

On 03/09/2026 at 13:31, Sconnie Blue said:

Scuro said in his statement that Camara wanted to stay (which was a lie) and was quoted as saying, "I'm very confident that soon he will have even better options and offers than the one he had yesterday." Either he was talking out of his ass, or there is truth to Ben Jacobs' report.

The timeline:

1. Monaco needed to raise funds.

2. Chelsea had been talking to them about Camara for weeks and had made offers that were refused.

3. Balogun to Everton reared its head.

4. Deal done with Everton for Balogun including terms.

5. Problems with Balogun’s medical at Everton.

6. Monaco agreed deal with Chelsea for Camara as insurance.

7. Everton decided medical wasn’t a serious problem, the deal could go ahead.

8. Monaco pulled the plug on Camara deal with Chelsea.

9. Balogun decided he had been disrespected by Everton, refused to sign the contract.

10. Monaco left with both Balogun and Camara.

11. Nowt to do with Liverpool. Monaco f**ked up.