CHELSEA are furious after Monaco turned transfer triumph into deadline day disaster.
The Blues believed they had sealed a deal to sign Lamine Camara, 22, from the French club for £47million as a replacement for Enzo Fernandez.
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But Monaco pulled the plug on the Camara move because they were close to agreeing to sell forward Folarin Balogun to Everton.
Chelsea could also have cancelled Fernandez’s £125m move to Manchester City, a joint British record transfer, at the last minute.
But by sticking to their verbal and written agreement with City, the Blues have left themselves with a big hole in their midfield options.
Chelsea are appalled by Monaco’s behaviour. The clubs had a verbal and then written agreement for Camara’s transfer, only for the Ligue 1 outfit to go back on their word.
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In the cut-throat world of football, things like that do happen and Monaco were clearly trying to avoid selling two of their own key players, Camara and Balogun, in the same window.
In the end, Balogun’s proposed move to Everton also fell through at the 11th hour, much to the fury of bosses at the Merseyside club.
But Monaco and Chelsea could not resurrect the Camara deal because the French side had not signed a deal sheet before the required deadline – which would have allowed them to finalise details after the 11pm cut-off.
Blues chiefs would much rather have another top-level midfielder on their books to replace Fernandez than the lukewarm satisfaction of seeing the French club fail to secure the sale they wanted to make instead of the Camara deal.
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Chelsea were all set to declare the summer transfer window a huge success.
They smashed the record by bringing in more than £500m in transfer and loan fees, including the £125m for Fernandez.
That deal was a big win for the Blues. City had failed to trigger the previous £120m fixed fee for the Argentinian, 25, before the August 14 deadline and some doubted they would go higher.
But new boss Enzo Maresca was desperate to land the player he brought the best out of during his time as Chelsea head coach.
Chelsea could have kept Fernandez, even after the collapse of the Camara deal.
But the reality is they needed to cash in and avoid an unhappy player poisoning the positive atmosphere new manager Xabi Alonso is trying to create.
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The problem is, with neither Camara nor fellow target Manu Kone coming in to replace Fernandez, Alonso is very vulnerable to a crisis of injury and/or form in central midfield.
Key man Moises Caicedo lasted only 14 minutes of his comeback as a substitute against Brighton last weekend.
The Ecuador international’s injury problems leave Alonso with a first-choice pairing of Reece James and Romeo Lavia – both of whom have lost huge periods to injury in recent seasons.
New signing Valentin Barco has looked promising in his cameo appearances so far.
But it would be a big ask to expect him to anchor a team chasing Champions League qualification in his first season in English football.
Malo Gusto can fill in as a central midfielder, but has done so with varying degrees of success, including an unimpressive performance against Brighton.
Chelsea are also waiting for fellow summer recruit Jordan Henderson to recover from the broken wrist he suffered while on England duty at the World Cup.
Henderson, 36, has arrived to provide experience and leadership off the pitch as much as on it.
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But Alonso is only an injury away from having to call on the former Liverpool captain more than he would have planned.
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Chelsea sent midfielder Dario Essugo on loan to sister club Strasbourg on deadline day.
But the most costly deal may prove to be the one that did not happen, for Camara.