Lights, Camara… Off? Monaco and Chelsea Caught in Batshit Storm That Also Fucked Everton Over Too

Lights, Camara… Off? The Transfer Saga That Screwed Everyone Involved

Summer transfer deadline day 2026 will go down in transfer window folklore for the level of chaos it caused. Enzo Fernandez moved for £125 million, equalling the British transfer record, while Malick Fofana created one of the best written saga’s in years, and yet the best drama of the day was to be found elsewhere.

Specifically, the best shitstorm of the day was occurring in three places at once - Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, and Monaco’s Stade Louis II, with the municipality’s Folarin Balogun and Lamine Camara at the centre of it all.

🚨⛔️ BREAKING: Folarin Balogun deal OFF.

After Lamine Camara-Chelsea called OFF due to AS Monaco selling Balogun… also Balogun deal has now collapsed.

Monaco have been informed - following @_pauljoyce. pic.twitter.com/ccMr06J47p

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2026

How It Started…

It all started with Everton’s interest in USMNT striker Folarin Balogun, as Beto was set to leave the Toffees alongside Iliman Ndiaye, leaving them with a gap in attack and money to spend.

Balogun came highly-rated - the former Arsenal striker netted three goals at the World Cup for Mauricio Pochettino’s US side, which came off the back of his second best club season of his career, in which he netted 19 goals for Monaco, including five in the Champions League.

Monaco were happy to sell their star striker, as they required significant funds to help both pay off a debt and sign Mexican centre-back Erik Lira from Cruz Azul, and with Balogun allegedly available for just over £40 million, Monaco were more than happy to recoup significant funds from their investment.

Ndiaye went to Manchester City for £65 million, Beto went to Fiorentina for just over £14 million, and finally, Everton had both the need and the funds to go after the player. The clubs quickly agreed a fee around £43 million for the striker, and he swiftly began his medical in a bid to expedite the move.

However, doubts arose in the medical, casting a shadow over the move, and eventually, the move stalled as Everton looked elsewhere and Monaco rifled through their ranks for another player to sell.

This is where Chelsea come in - having all but sold Enzo Fernandez for an eye-watering £125 million in the early afternoon, the Blues were now on the lookout for a replacement, and Monaco’s £50 million rated midfielder Lamine Camara appeared to fit the bill perfectly.

🚨 Chelsea furious, Camara unhappy, Everton unhappy, Monaco not happy because they got no money, all parties are unhappy.

Camara medical was even interrupted after Monaco called Chelsea to say ‘Sorry, the deal is not happening’ because Everton had called them to proceed with… pic.twitter.com/DO0bNFhSvq

— Pys (@CFCPys) September 2, 2026

With Everton out of the picture, Xabi Alonso’s side quickly reached an agreement with Monaco, and it looked as if Camara to Chelsea was a done deal. However, in the background, some dominos were falling that would irreparably damage the prospect of any move, for Camara and otherwise.

How It Went…

Having been turned away by Monaco in their pursuit of Balogun, Everton instead asked Manchester United about the availability of wantaway forward Joshua Zirkzee, and the Red Devils, rather cold-bloodedly on both player and club side, said he was not going to move this transfer window.

This left Everton in a vulnerable position - with very few other realistic targets on the market, they were caught between a rock and a hard place, and they went back to where they started, and looked to negotiate a cheaper deal for Folarin Balogun as a result of the niggling injuries that had affected his medical.

By this point, Lamine Camara to Chelsea was all but signed, and Camara was in the middle of a medical, but as soon as Everton looked to come back in with a bid that, despite being reduced would still been enough for Monaco’s needs, the French top flight club pulled the plug on the Chelsea move, and all hell broke loose.

Chelsea could well have pulled the plug on Fernandez’s deal to Man City, but as a club with actual class in these scenarios, the Blues honoured their agreement, collecting the staggering amount of money despite now having no one to spend it on.

Understandably, Chelsea representatives were fuming, but Monaco were laughing, believing they were about to recoup the cash initially spent on Balogun as Everton neared a deal. However, the final, laughable twist was one that truly screwed all three clubs: Balogun, remembering that as a grown man he has free well, decided that he actually didn’t want to move to Everton!

Deciding to leave the training centre, where the contract agreement was supposed to take place, without signing, the American had ensured that three different clubs were feeling hard done by at once.

Monaco had been left with no money to sign their defensive target and pay their debt, Chelsea were left with a skeleton midfield crew after missing out on Camara, and Everton were left with just Thierno Barry as their sole striker option, having missed out on both Balogun and Zirkzee.

🚨 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗗: The most ridiculous deadline day transfer saga explained in a single post. 🤯

This was genuinely unbelievable…

🔸 AS Monaco needed to make a sale to help resolve a debt issue and free up a non-EU squad spot to sign Mexican midfielder Erik Lira.

🔸… pic.twitter.com/LCcoU9W1bJ

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) September 2, 2026

It was utterly ludicrous, complete madness, and new levels of disorganisation. In all honesty, the blame falls on Monaco for being so utterly infuriating to deal with, but Chelsea and Everton are not completely innocent either - every club knows this is the risk you run by leaving business until deadline day, and as fans, we wouldn’t have it any other way.