Manchester City joins Chelsea and Liverpool in the hunt for Monaco's star

Keen to continue his career on the other side of the Channel, Lamine Camara believed he would be signing for Chelsea in the closing stages of the summer window. However, held onto against his wishes right until the end by the Principality club, despite a substantial offer from the Blues — who were looking for a successor to Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez and had valued the deal at £38m — the Senegalese midfielder saw his move fall through and ultimately remained part of the squad coached by Filipe Luis.

Handed a starting berth for the third consecutive Ligue 1 match in last Friday's 2-1 win away at Paris Saint-Germain, the 22-year-old will therefore have to wait a few more months before leaving AS Monaco. In the meantime, the club's hierarchy will be hoping that the former Metz player, who is under contract until June 2029, continues to perform well enough this season to keep pushing his market value upward, currently estimated at £34m by Transfermarkt.

Manchester City linked with the Lamine Camara deal

With Monaco having made a perfect start, winning all three of their opening Ligue 1 matches, the Diouloulou-born midfielder continues to draw interest from the biggest clubs in the Premier League. Like Chelsea, Liverpool have shown an interest, and now a third Premier League powerhouse has revealed its interest in Monaco's number eight. According to information from journalist Ekrem Konur, Manchester City are also keeping tabs on Lamine Camara.

It is understood that City have not yet decided whether they will make a concrete move. It has to be said that, at this stage, Enzo Maresca's side are already well stocked in that area of the pitch and had already opened their chequebook to reinforce the midfield, a logical consequence of the departures of Rodri and Nico Gonzalez.

City's expensive summer rebuild leaves little room for a move

This summer, Manchester City brought in Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez (£123m), England's Nottingham Forest prodigy Elliot Anderson (£115m) and Lille's Moroccan international Ayyoub Bouaddi (£81m) — nothing less than City's three most expensive arrivals of the 2026 close season. Dipping into the transfer kitty again to bring in Lamine Camara therefore does not appear to be a priority.

It remains to be seen whether any of Lamine Camara's suitors will make their move as early as January 2026, or whether they will wait until the end of this campaign to sign the player Monaco bought for £13m in the summer of 2024.