Lamine Camara continues to be linked with a move to Liverpool after having his transfer to Chelsea called off, and the Reds would be getting the "best player in France" if they go through with a deal

Lamine Camara has been called “the best player in France” as speculation continues over a move to Liverpool.

The midfielder came close to moving to the Premier League during the summer, only for Monaco to pull the plug on his deadline-day move to Chelsea after he had already completed a medical.

Subsequent reports have gone on to claim Liverpool called both Camara’s camp and Monaco to urge them to “wait”, leaving Chelsea furious and creating doubt as to whether the Blues will return for his signature, while rumors linking the Senegal international with the Reds have grown stronger.

And if the Reds are considering a move for Camara, they’ll be encouraged by the opinion of former Monaco and Arsenal star Gilles Grimandi, who rates the midfielder higher than anyone else in France right now.

“I'm surprised he's still at Monaco, I'm very surprised,” Grimandi told GOAL about Camara. “I expected him to leave Monaco last season.

“He's the best player in France. I said to [Senegal head coach] Patrick Vieira, you have a chance to have this guy, because he's a top, top player and his attitude is fantastic. When you have a national team and you have this player for Patrick, he's top and in Monaco he's the best player at this moment.

“For me, Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice are still above him at this time, better than him, but he can become one of the top players in his position. He has a lot of quality.

“Maybe it's not a bad thing to stay one more season at Monaco, just to learn a bit more, because we play in European competition. Even if it's not the Champions League, he can still learn and improve, but next season he has to go to a top club for sure, and he will perform.”

Camara looks likely to be on the move in 2027, whether it’s during the upcoming January transfer window or later in the summer, with Fabrizio Romano recently claiming that Liverpool is “following” the 22-year-old, while suggesting that Chelsea has “disappeared” from the chase. Camara is now said to be valued at around $62 million (€55M).

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Having called off his move to Stamford Bridge, Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro revealed that Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso had spoken directly to the player, but Monaco went into deadline day not wanting to sell Camara, instead preferring to offload Folarin Balogun instead - whose own move to Everton also fell through.

Scuro also reassured Camara that he would secure a major transfer “very soon”. Not only that, but he also suggested he could have “even better options than he did yesterday”, offering a potential hint to Liverpool’s interest.