Liverpool have a deal in place to sign Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara in January, TEAMtalk say, with the club ready to meet a higher asking price.
Monaco have pushed the fee up from €55m to €70m, which works out at about £58.5m, and Liverpool are prepared to pay it. Camara is 22 and plays for Senegal.
Chelsea had him in the summer
Chelsea thought they had this one done. They agreed a €55m fee and a six-year contract with Camara, only for Monaco to change course on deadline day after Folarin Balogun’s proposed move to Everton collapsed. Both players stayed put, and Liverpool got involved once the window had shut.
Alex Scott complicates things. Both clubs like the Bournemouth midfielder, who is rated at £100m, but Chelsea are the clear frontrunners for him. That has pushed Liverpool towards Camara, with dossiers also put together on Roma’s Manu Kone as another option. There was fresh contact with Camara’s agents on 28 October.
Lewis Steele has said Chelsea sources believe Liverpool may already have a deal in place, and that Camara has been a name that keeps coming up. David Lynch has also suggested the groundwork is done. An earlier report, on 2 November, said Monaco had given the go-ahead for a bid, that Camara wants a Premier League move and that Monaco would allow a mid-season exit if their demands are met.
The timing makes sense. Injuries to Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch have left Liverpool leaning heavily on 19-year-old Trey Nyoni in midfield.
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