Liverpool found themselves tangled up in one of the wildest storylines of deadline day, and it’s left a Premier League rival seething.
Anfield stayed relatively quiet on Tuesday, with the only incoming being Belgian goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans, who’s staying at Genk on loan for the campaign. A few late departures rounded things out too — Harvey Elliott left on loan for Valencia, while Stefan Bajcetic sealed a permanent switch to Celta Vigo.
No midfield reinforcements arrived at Liverpool on deadline day, but there’s clearly a player they’ve got earmarked for down the line.
The Lamine Camara saga was one of the day’s biggest talking points. Chelsea saw an opening offer of around £38.5m knocked back before eventually striking a £47m agreement for the Monaco midfielder, who’d even been cleared to undergo a medical. But things unraveled after Monaco’s deal to offload Folarin Balogun to Everton fell apart, prompting the French club to abandon the Camara sale entirely — a decision that reportedly left Chelsea’s hierarchy furious.
According to talkSPORT, Liverpool actually rang Monaco on deadline day itself, urging them to hold off on selling Camara. Monaco then scrapped the transfer shortly after. The Reds weren’t planning to land the 22-year-old this window, but they did make clear to both player and club that they’d be ready to move for him next year should the Chelsea deal fall through.
In truth, Liverpool could have used Camara’s signature right away. Their defensive midfield shortage has been a persistent talking point, and the club has thinned out in that area since the summer began. As things stand, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai are left shouldering the defensive responsibilities in midfield — none of whom are natural fits for that role, given their more attack-oriented instincts.
With the window now closed, Andoni Iraola faces the task of drilling a more disciplined, risk-averse approach into that trio, hoping to cut down on the ease with which opponents have been slicing through Liverpool’s midfield.
The concern is timing — by the time Liverpool can revisit a Camara deal in January, the current midfield frailty may still be unresolved, or could even have worsened, with the season potentially paying the price. Camara’s collapsed Chelsea move does at least keep the door open for Liverpool to return for him in 2027 — the hope now is simply that it isn’t too late to matter for this campaign.
