Romano reveals how close Chelsea came to Kone deal as ‘mystery player’ is unmasked | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano has revealed how close Chelsea came to signing Roma midfielder Manu Kone on a chaotic deadline day for the Blues.

The Blues allowed Enzo Fernandez to join Manchester City on transfer deadline day as the Citizens completed a deal for a £125m fee.

But Chelsea were unlucky in their own pursuit of a midfielder before the deadline with Monaco pulling out of a deal to sell Lamine Camara to the Blues in the final hours of the window.

Explaining what happened to the Camara deal, Jacobs told talkSPORT: “For those who are unaware, Chelsea tried twice for Lamine Camara, €45m and €50m, but it was rejected. Why? Because Monaco felt in a strong position to keep the player because they thought Flo Balogun was off to Everton, and he still might be.

“Flash forward, Chelsea sell Enzo Fernandez [to Manchester City], late in the day there’s a question mark over Balogun, the French window closed earlier than this window so Monaco weren’t even able to bring in a replacement because Balogun is still being registered in their EU spots.

“Then about two hours ago, Monaco get cold feet and say if there’s any doubt about Balogun we need to go to Chelsea and do this deal [for Camara] for €55m. By the way, two days ago they quoted Behdad Eghbali €70m, Chelsea say, ‘thanks very much, we’ve got a great deal here’, it’s formalised, we wait and see if it’s gone to a deal sheet.

“Suddenly Monaco get double the cash for Lamine Camara and Flo Balogun but they couldn’t take the risk of Balogun getting done because they need money immediately.

“Chelsea, even an hour ago, were formalising this move with complete confidence because from their perspective, Monaco were cashing in on both players.

“My understanding is that Monaco still believe they can still get €70m and they want to keep the player now.

“Chelsea view this as deeply unprofessional. Chelsea thought they were going to announce this evening on a six-year contract with a one-year option, the player was keen on the move.”

‘Chelsea called to understand the situation’ – Romano

Another player they were chasing was Kone but Italian transfer insider Romano insists that Chelsea were never close to signing the France international.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Another story of deadline day, Manu Kone, we woke up with many media [outlets] in Italy saying Manu Kone is one step away, close, almost done to Chelsea.

“But the reality is that Chelsea were never close to signing Manu Kone. Chelsea called to understand the situation but Chelsea never closed the deal for Manu Kone. So that’s basically what happened.

“Roma were very clear: they did not want to sell the player. Manu Kone was not for sale and so nothing happened because, for Roma, Manu Kone was considered as an absolutely, absolutely crucial player.”