Monaco open door to Lamine Camara deal amid strong Newcastle interest - Report

Newcastle United have been keeping a close eye on Monaco star Lamine Camara ahead of a potential bid.

The Senegalese midfielder has been linked to Newcastle for months now, and as the transfer window nears, the rumours are heating up over a summer swoop.

There have been reports of talks recently, and that they resulted in Newcastle being made aware of Monaco's £43 million asking price, but there have been no reports of a bid as yet.

However, it's now being said that after missing out on the Champions League, Monaco would be more open to a sale of its biggest stars, including Camara.

Monaco is ready to part with Lamine Camara

Get French Football News editor Luke Entwhistle has been speaking to The Chronicle about Camara, and he believes that even though Monaco made it into the Europa Conference League, it may not be enough for them to hang on to their most coveted players.

"They are very open to a sale, especially since they have missed out on Champions League football. They were reliant on Lens beating Nice in the Coupe de France final to get any sort of European football, which for them is the Europa Conference League.

"That does mean their most bankable assets will likely have to leave. [Maghnes] Akliouche is one of them, [Folarin] Balogun is another and Camara is the third of those.

"He is someone who they are looking at as a Premier League ready profile and someone who therefore they can sell to the Premier League which is essentially what all French clubs are now trying to do.

"They are trying to fill their squads full of players who would be of potential interest to clubs in the Premier League and Camara is one of those. I definitely expect Monaco to try and cash in on that.

"He would be one of the players Monaco will be looking to move on after what has been a pretty strong season for him, albeit one that has been affected by injury but he is not the only player who falls into that category from Monaco this year."

Lamine Camara is a dead-ball specialist

Entwhistle goes on to claim that Camara looks perfect for the Premier League and notes his ability to deliver quality set pieces, something that Newcastle could certainly do with.

Newcastle haven't scored from a direct free kick since the 2022/23 season, which is a shocking stat. Beyond that, even the delivery from corners and free kicks has been sorely lacking overall.

Lamine Camara may not be the immediate answer to that, but having someone in the side who knows how to strike a dead ball certainly wouldn't go amiss.

We still doubt Newcastle will hand over £43 million without trying to get something knocked off the price, but at least it sounds positive that Monaco is open to a deal.