With the transfer window about to close, Chelsea are pushing hard to sign AS Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara (22). His manager, Filipe Luís, desperately hopes that he will stay.

Despite the strong links with a move to Stamford Bridge, Camara started for Monaco against Olympique de Marseille on Sunday night. He put in a man-of-the-match performance as Les Monégasques landed an important win over their rivals. At the end of the encounter, the Senegal international went and sat in the dugout on his own. A sign?

Post-match, Filipe Luís was asked about the midfielder’s future at the club. “I hope to keep him,” began the Brazilian. As the question was posed, the club’s CEO, Thiago Scuro, let out a smile. He would listen to the response until its conclusion before departing the room. “You see the player that he is – unbelievable. Until the end of the transfer window, anything can happen. Everyone hopes that he stays. He is elite,” said the Monaco manager in a press conference attended by Get French Football News.