Lamine Camara: Value Adder - What you need to know about Liverpool's next big thing

Liverpool want to sign Lamine Camara, according to several reports. Here's why they're pushing hard to sign the player.

It seems that Lamine Camara might be a Chelsea player right now if not for Liverpool. The Blues had a deal effectively sealed for the AS Monaco midfielder on deadline day only for things to dramatically collapse.

That was, per Ben Jacobs, because Liverpool made a call. They let both Monaco and Camara know that they're going to make a move in 2027 when the cash is there: and they're willing to pay the €70m asking price.

Camara is thought to be keen on the move to Anfield. In fact, it's his preference, and he's the Reds' pick to be the defensive midfielder at the heart of their side.

So why him? Why a 22-year-old who wasn't picked up by any major side this summer and who didn't appear to be very high on anyone's shopping list?

We've delved into our Value Adder player model to grab the numbers why. Liverpool could have their next big thing here.

Value Adder: Lamine Camara

Let's start with the key numbers - the value added. Our model asses how much of a point impact an individual player had on their side across a season.

Camara added around 3.33 points to Monaco's points tally this season. It's a very, very strong number and it makes him the 7th most valuable midfielder in Ligue 1 last season.

But there are a couple of things to add here. Firstly, attacking players add more value - that should be fairly straightforward. Camara boosting a team by three points on his own as a defensive midfielder is very strong.

And importantly, that number is roughly the same as the season before. His per 90 value, actually, was near identical at 0.17 vs 0.16. We actually have him down as the 6th most valuable Ligue 1 midfielder in 2024/25.

Those numbers were both an improvement on his 2023/24 season, too. Camara was a 20-year-old at FC Metz back then, where he added around 2.21 points in our model.

So we've got an improving player here and one who does stand out in his league. And here's where things get a little convoluted.

Camara is a defensive midfielder but not necessarily one who drove standout value last season. His real overall value came from the fact he provides both attacking and defensive value - but we have his latter sitting at around a defensive boost of 2.46 goals.

This was only 10th for midfielders in Ligue 1. Not particularly standout at all, then, and we imagine that's why no club went into the summer with Camara at the top of their shortlist.

However, it's more complicated than that. Camara had, in our model, the best defensive value of any Monaco player. Quite comfortably, actually.

The reason his value is so low is because Monaco had a terrible defence. Their 54 goals conceded was the most of any top-half team in Ligue 1. It was also more than the teams that finished in 13th, 14th, and 15th. It was even more than relegated Nantes conceded.

Because of that, Camara's defensive value is stunted - he quite clearly wasn't enough on his own to drive a good defence. But in a team that provides a bit of help? Say, one that has Virgil van Dijk in it? Now there's every reason to believe that Camara could kick on.

The above plot shows the share of possession value a player holds and the share of the defensive workload they take on for their side. Camara is top 10 percent in both metrics for Monaco when looking at midfielders under 25 across the top five leagues.

And that's a common theme. In fact, what Camara does is quite unique. He comes incredibly close - closer than anyone - to being in the top 10 per cent for top five league midfielders in both creative actions and share of the defensive work load.

And that creativity is mainly from creating chances for others. When looking at midfielders under 30 he is the only player in the top five leagues to be top 10 per cent for key passes and share of the defence.

These aren't just regular chances, either. Remove the age limit and look at big chances created, rather than just key passes, and suddenly Camara is the only defensive midfielder in Europe to be top 10 per cent in both that and defensive share.

There is no question that Camara is a fantastic talent. He just also has some question marks about him that we're not sure will be answered at Monaco.

He takes on a massive share of the workload for his side but that hasn't translated into them having a good defence. That's not always the case - someone like Mamadou Sangaré also took on a huge share but RC Lens had an above-average defence last season.

Liverpool will look at Camara and feel that he might just be flying under the radar a bit with Monaco. The stats all look positive and exactly what you'd want - he just doesn't necessarily model well because his side aren't consistent.

If Camara were to come in as the only defensive weapon, Liverpool would have a problem. But we imagine the Reds would look to lighten the load on him a bit, take more advantage of his creative skills, and provide the defensive help that Monaco don't.

And if that works out, you're looking at one of the world's best midfielders, quite honestly.