Ismaïla Sarr’s agent has claimed some African players are treated like “a commodity” after Crystal Palace turned down Liverpool’s approach for the Senegal forward and Lamine Camara’s move from Monaco to Chelsea broke down on deadline day.
Palace are understood to have rejected a bid from Liverpool for Sarr last week and insisted last season’s top scorer was not for sale. The 28-year-old, who missed the opening two matches against Everton and Manchester City after the manager, Pierre Sage, said he had picked up an injury, subsequently deleted all references to the Conference League winners from his social media accounts and is thought to have been disappointed by Palace’s stance.
Liverpool did not return with a bid on deadline day after deciding to keep Cody Gakpo, who was wanted by City.
Sarr’s Senegal teammate Camara was poised for a £47m move until Monaco backtracked on a club-to-club written agreement, leaving Chelsea fuming. The Ligue 1 side have said they pulled the plug on Camara’s transfer because they thought Folarin Balogun’s £40m move to Everton was back on after doubts over his medical.
Sarr’s agent, Diomansy Kamara, who won 50 caps for Senegal and played for Portsmouth, West Brom and Fulham, released a statement on Wednesday questioning the treatment of his compatriots.
“The cases of Ismaïla Sarr and Lamine Camara must all interrogate us,” he said. “We have to get out of this logic where the African player can sometimes give the feeling that he is just a commodity: you buy it, you set its price, you negotiate its future and, too often, your will seems to go to the background. Our African players deserve respect. The respect of their work. The respect of their career. Respecting their ambitions. The respect of their voices.”
Kamara added: “The fact that clubs can sometimes have the final word is a reality of professional football. But one question remains: what about the career and the will of the player? The player must be able to be heard and respected in the decisions that determine his future. ‘Let’s never forget what’s important: behind every success, it’s the players who write history first.’”
Palace were contacted for comment. Monaco’s sporting director, Thiago Scuro, defended the Ligue 1 side’s actions in a press conference on Wednesday.
He said: “Around 10pm, in our time here, maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised that OK there is no problem: ‘We are ready to do it. Let’s sign the contract.’ As soon as we got the information, yes, we did come back to Chelsea and told [them]: ‘OK, we have our deal there. There is no deal on Lamine.’ Because it’s also fair to do this. It’s also part of the game.”
He said it was unfair to portray Monaco as “the bad guys in the room”: “Everybody is very fair and nice in the football industry, just Monaco is not. Too much.”
Everton were left with only one recognised striker after Balogun changed his mind over the move to Merseyside and Scuro suggested the US forward was unhappy with how Everton had treated him over his medical.
