Liverpool Plot Return For Lamine Camara After Chelsea Transfer Collapsed On Deadline Day

Liverpool had a very quiet deadline day yesterday, and other than a deal for Lucca Brughmans, in which the Belgian keeper has been loaned back to Genk for the season, Andoni Iraola had no more new arrivals to add to his squad before the window closed.

However, a player that the club had looked at signing was AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara. The Merseyside club had explored the finances needed to bring the Senegalese international over to England, but decided that this was not a move that they could facilitate at this time. 

A fellow Premier League side, Chelsea, did decide to make a serious play for Camara on deadline day. So much so that a fee of around £47 million was agreed with the Ligue 1 side.

But in the final hour of the window, Monaco pulled the plug on the transfer, believing that another one of their star players, Folarin Balogun, was set to make the switch to Everton, and the French side only needed to sell one of them to balance the books. That move also fell through, but it was after the deadline had passed.

This has now left the door wide open for someone to come in and sign the 22-year-old defensive midfielder either in January or next summer, and if reports are to be believed, that club is not likely to be Chelsea. 

Almost immediately after the confirmation that the Lamine Camara to Chelsea deal had fallen through, several journalists started reporting how Liverpool had spoken to Camara's representatives about making a move in the near future. 

Ben Jacobs was the first to come out and say that Liverpool had made multiple calls last night to tell Lamine Camara's camp and Monaco to wait on sanctioning any move this summer. He then went on to say that the Reds had told Camara that they'll potentially be back for him in 2027.

Alex Crook reported that Chelsea are now probably reluctant to do any business with Monaco in the future, with Liverpool eyeing up a move for the midfielder next summer, as a possible Alexis Mac Allister replacement, who may exit in a year's time.

David Ornstein has since clarified that if Alexis Mac Allister was sold in the transfer window, a move that was being heavily touted at certain points this summer, then Lamine Camara would have been the number one target to replace him, with Ornstein believing that Camara to Liverpool is something to keep an eye on in the future. 

So if the club was always monitoring and keeping tabs on Camara, and they even went as far as to contact the player's representatives to ask them to hold off on any move to Chelsea, why didn't the Anfield recruitment team make a move for Camara before the market closed?

One reason may be that the club's hierarchy was unwilling to spend any more money this summer, after already having a net spend of over £200 million for this window. And as shown by the late move for Malo Gusto on loan yesterday, rather than a permanent transfer, the Merseyside outfit would have only entered the market for the likes of Lamine Camara if another midfielder, like Alexis Mac Allister, had departed.

Despite the inactivity from Liverpool on deadline day, the calls they made throughout the day tell us a lot about Andoni Iraola's thinking when it comes to the strength of his squad. 

On the one hand, it was incredibly frustrating to see the club let the day ultimately pass them by without making any additions to Iraola's squad for this season. On the other hand, it could also be seen as reassuring that the couple of players that the Reds did express an interest in are in areas where most fans would like to see an improvement: right-back and midfield.

And these are clearly areas that Iraola himself also believes need strengthening as soon as possible. 

And now that Richard Hughes has departed the club, a fresh face will be challenged to bring in the players Andoni Iraola needs in order to get this club competing for major honours once again. Because, despite the major signing of Bradley Barcola this summer, Liverpool's new head coach has not been backed in the transfer market as much as many would have liked to see.