'It breaks my heart to see what the numbers are, so give it to charity'

The deadline for transfers in the Five Leagues concluded last night, marked by a chaotic final day, particularly in England, where record-breaking deals, dramatic twists, and stories that challenge trust in human word unfolded. The most dramatic moment came with the collapse of the transfer of Lamine Camara from Monaco to Chelsea just moments before the deadline, leaving the London club's management stunned, incredulous, and openly furious. What happened? Everything had already been agreed upon between the two clubs, with the price fixed at €55 million, and the player was set to travel to London for a medical examination. However, everything suddenly stopped. Monaco finalized the sale of forward Folarin Balogun to Everton for £40 million, which made the funds from Chelsea unnecessary, leading them to halt Camara’s move. This breach of agreement left Chelsea in shock, especially since they had sold Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City hours earlier and were counting on Camara as their new defensive midfielder. Branko Strupar, a former footballer turned commentator who closely follows the Premier League, commented on this wild day and the chaotic transfer window on the island. "It's a miracle, Camara was already fully resolved and then they changed their mind at the last minute. It's still a blow for Chelsea because they let go of Fernandez and were counting on having another option. It's definitely a hit for the club," he said, touching on another intriguing story from the island. Malick Fofana moved from Lyon to Sunderland despite having previously agreed terms with Crystal Palace. "Look at the situation with Fofana. Two private planes were waiting for him, Sunderland's and Palace's, and in the end, he went to Sunderland. That's unbelievable. Palace's coach Pierre Sage knew him from Lyon and told Fofana he was coming to Palace. However, he changed his mind and went to Sunderland. These are things that are hard to understand, and it's all about big money. It's like watching the English soap operas, which I always loved, and these transfers are exactly that, pure business," said Strupar, who played for Derby County on the island. "As if they're competing to see who can have the most expensive player." In transfers, holding onto a bull by its horns or a man by his word no longer seems to apply. "That's right, when a hand is given and something is promised, it obviously falls into water once a larger sum comes along. It's sad, but everything has become business and hunting. Definitely, there's overdoing it because out of the ten biggest transfers, nine are English clubs. All these figures are over 100 million, nobody is under 100 million. It's like clubs are competing to see who can have the most expensive player. Anderson came to City for so much and so much, then Chelsea had to pay more for Rogers, and finally, Fernandez comes to City and has to be the most expensive one," said Strupar and continued. "Look at that link in City. They got Anderson, Bouaddi, and Fernandez for a total of €375 million. These are good players, we can analyze them as much as you want, but too much is too much. Rodri left immediately, they brought in this trio, and now Kovacic has no chance to play there anymore. When you look at how much they paid for this trio, they have to play. Brutal is this world, these numbers are overkill to me. It pains me. Please don't exaggerate, give that to humanitarian purposes, give it to someone who is hungry," pointed out the former Dinamo attacker. "My heart hurts when I see that people are hungry, natural disasters happen, and they throw around numbers as if they are competing to see who can have the most expensive player in the squad," concluded Strupar's commentary on English transfers.