Monaco chief executive Thiago Scuro has defended the club’s conduct after deadline-day moves for Lamine Camara and Folarin Balogun both collapsed, saying Monaco were unfairly portrayed as “the bad guys in the room”.
The Ligue 1 club had been involved in two separate deals as the summer transfer window closed. Balogun was expected to join Everton, while Chelsea attempted to sign Camara after selling Enzo Fernandez.
Neither transfer was completed, leaving Monaco with two players who had appeared close to departing and prompting criticism of the club’s handling of the negotiations.
Scuro said Monaco had been under financial pressure to generate income because of regulations, but insisted their priority had always been to retain Camara. He added that the club was willing to consider selling Balogun.
"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..."
According to Scuro, Chelsea initially continued to explore whether Monaco might change their position on Camara after completing the sale of Enzo Fernandez.
"This was the situation until mid-afternoon. What happened is that Chelsea was always testing and trying. 'What about Lamine? What about Lamine?'
"Around 1600 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."
While Balogun was undergoing his medical in Liverpool, Everton raised concerns about the striker’s medical condition. Scuro said those concerns were considered unfounded by both Monaco’s medical team and the player’s own advisers.
"Balogun was in Liverpool undergoing his medical. Everything was going pretty well. Around 1900, we were contacted by Everton raising questions about Balogun’s medical which, for our medical staff, as well as for the player’s personal medical staff, made no sense at all."
Scuro said Chelsea then saw an opportunity to revive talks over Camara, believing Monaco might need to sell because the Everton deal for Balogun appeared to be in difficulty.
He said negotiations began at about 20:00 and that he personally spoke to Camara about the terms of a possible move to Chelsea, while discussions over Balogun’s medical continued.
However, Everton later confirmed they were ready to proceed with the Balogun transfer. Monaco therefore ended their discussions with Chelsea over Camara, according to Scuro.
"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."
Scuro said the Balogun deal then had only five minutes remaining when the paperwork was completed by Monaco and Everton. The transfer ultimately failed because the player chose not to sign the contract.
"And what happened was that around 2200, Everton realised that, 'OK, there is no problem'. We are ready to do it. Let’s sign the contract. As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea and thought, 'OK, we have our deal there (with Everton). There is no deal on (with Chelsea).' It’s also fair to do this. It’s also part of the game.
"Then with Balogun, we had five 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."
Scuro said Balogun felt uncomfortable committing to a long-term contract after the way he believed the club had treated him and after Everton’s medical department raised concerns about his health.
"Balogun’s allegation is, 'I’m not feeling well because of the way the club treated me. I’m not feeling well because Everton’s medical department raised doubts about my future or my health. I have nothing (no medical issues), so I’m not comfortable signing a long contract here'. And that’s how we finished our transfer window."
The United States international had been expected to complete a £40m move to Everton, replacing Iliman Ndiaye, who joined Manchester City.
Scuro said he did not want to create conflict with either Chelsea or Everton, but remained confident Camara would attract stronger proposals in future.
"I don’t want to create war with Chelsea, I don’t want to create war with Everton" but he said Camara "will have better options and offers than the one he had yesterday".