Monaco reject Chelsea's opening bid for Lamine Camara

Chelsea's offer for the Monaco midfielder

Chelsea have made a bid for Lamine Camara, a midfielder at the French club Monaco, as the London side look for a replacement for Enzo Fernandez. The Standard reports the offer at 38.5 million pounds.

Foot Mercato, citing Sky Sports, describes the first offer as 45 million euros and says Monaco's board turned it down. The two figures may refer to the same bid in different currencies, but the sources do not say so directly.

The Standard reports that Camara is understood to be interested in the move, while Monaco are holding out for a bigger fee. Foot Mercato adds that Camara took part in Monaco's training session on Tuesday morning.

The Enzo Fernandez vacancy

The interest in Camara follows Manchester City working on a deal to sign Fernandez, the Argentina midfielder, from Chelsea. Martin Cid Magazine reports the fee at 140 million euros, attributing that figure to TNT Sports and Sky Sports.

Chelsea have been working on a replacement for some time, according to The Standard, and Camara is one option under consideration.

Manu Kone as the rival target

The other midfielder Chelsea have looked at is Manu Kone, a 25 year old French player at the Italian club Roma. Roma's manager Gian Piero Gasperini said on Monday that the club were not prepared to lose Kone and that talk of Chelsea's interest was, in his words, a media thing.

Martin Cid Magazine quotes Gasperini saying the club's owners did not want to sell either. The same article reports that FootballTransfers published an exclusive saying Kone had agreed personal terms with Chelsea, and that Sky Sports reported the clubs were close to a deal worth around 65 million euros, with the winger Jamie Gittens possibly joining Roma on loan as part of it.

Standard Sport says there have been concrete talks between Chelsea and Kone's camp as well as Roma, in the same way as with Camara's representatives and Monaco.

Unanswered questions

The sources do not say what fee Monaco would accept for Camara, or whether Chelsea intend to return with an improved offer. Nor do they give any detail on the length or terms of a possible contract.

They also do not make clear whether Chelsea are pursuing Camara and Kone as alternatives to one another or as separate signings. No club involved is quoted announcing a completed deal for either player.