Chelsea’s failed move for Lamine Camara was karma for offloading Tosin Adarabioyo and Mykhailo Mudryk to Tottenham Hotspur.
That is according to talkSPORT’s Abbi Summers, who also believes Premier League champions Arsenal have made a key mistake.
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Summers has reviewed the summer transfer business of several clubs following deadline day earlier this week.
The Premier League window slammed shut with teams spending a record £3.41billion combined.
‘Spurs signed unwanted players’
Spurs contributed over £300million to that figure after a glut of signings were made to bolster Roberto De Zerbi’s squad.
They included late deals for Chelsea duo Tosin and Mudryk, with the latter arriving on a season-long loan, with a £75million option to buy.
Their moves came after Manchester City had hijacked Spurs’ attempt to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton.
Giving her judgement on the double signing, Summers admitted: “We went from Iliman Ndiaye to signing Tosin and Mudryk.
“That was not on my bingo card. That was not on anybody’s bingo card if I’m totally honest with you. We never do business with Chelsea, we haven’t I think since (Carlo) Cudicini.
“If you’re going to do business with Chelsea, please make it be a good player, but it just seems to me like we have taken two players that, I mean it’s well-documented, they didn’t want, couldn’t get rid of.
“Have offered Tosin out to god knows who and we’ve just been like ‘yes, ok sure, we’ll have them, no problem.’”
Tosin had been offered to clubs in the Premier League and overseas by Chelsea this summer.
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The centre-back was also left out of the squad for each of their opening three matches of the season.
As for Mudryk, the Ukraine international was only cleared to return to action this summer after his doping case was resolved.
The 25-year-old, who previously played under De Zerbi at Shakhtar Donetsk, had been provisionally suspended since December 2024.
Prior to the ban, Mudryk scored 10 goals and added 11 assists in 73 appearances for Chelsea.
Camara deal ‘karma’ for Chelsea
According to Summers, the Blues have already been dealt some Karma for shifting their unwanted stars to London rivals Spurs.
Xabi Alonso missed out on the deadline day signing of Camara after Monaco pulled out of a £47million deal at the 11th hour.
As a result, Chelsea were unable to secure a replacement for Enzo Fernandez, who was sold to City for £125million.
Despite that, Summers was impressed by their attacking signings earlier in the window, with Morgan Rogers added to the frontline.
She explained: “Chelsea had a phenomenal window. Their front line is scary.
“When you think Cole Palmer is bang in form, Joao Pedro looking great and then you’ve added Morgan Rogers to the mix. They are looking unreal. They really are.
“(Maxence) Lacroix, good signing. (Emi) Martinez, they had to sort the keeper situation out, good signing.
“The only thing I would say is losing Enzo Fernandez and not getting Camara over the line.
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“I mean, I think that’s banter. It’s jokes because you’ve just lumbered Spurs with Tosin and Mudryk, so a tiny bit of karma there and who doesn’t want to see Chelsea suffer a little bit?
“But considering how injury-prone their midfielders are and the people that can also cover in midfield as well, you’re leaving yourself in a bit of a tricky situation.
“I know that the Chelsea fan base were losing their minds over the fact that they couldn’t get that deal done in time and it collapsed in the final hour.
“Have they done enough to be title challengers? I think everyone was saying with the window they’ve had, Chelsea are really dangerous, which they are going forward.
“But we’ve seen in the first few games so far that they definitely have weaknesses at the back and are just leaving yourselves in a really vulnerable position not signing a replacement for Enzo Fernandez.”
Although Chelsea have made a winning start to the season, they have conceded five goals across their victories over Fulham and Brighton.
Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo has already picked up a knock, joining summer signings Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra on the treatment table.
Arsenal’s transfer mistake
Whilst Summers admits Chelsea have a ‘phenomenal’ attack, she has concerns over Arsenal’s forward options.
She believes even the most reluctant of Gunners fans will agree they made a mistake not signing another attacker.
Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard were all allowed to leave the club after last season’s title triumph.
However, the exciting addition of Christos Tzolis proved to be their only signing in attack.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have also signed the likes of Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimaraes.
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Turning her attention to Mikel Arteta’s side, Summers added: “I think Arsenal’s business has been very good.
“I think bringing in Ezri Konsa, that’s a great signing. They love a centre-back as well. This is where centre-backs go to thrive and develop. It’s literally their kingdom.
“Bruno Guimaraes, great signing too. Tzolis has looked positive as well in the first couple games that we’ve seen. He literally looks like a baby Trossard.
“But I do think that by selling Martinelli, letting Gabriel Jesus go and of course letting Trossard go, they have left themselves extremely light in those attacking areas.
“Of course, you have got versatility. You can play (Eberechi) Eze on the wing, you have (Noni) Madueke that can also play on both wings, (Kai) Havertz, (Viktor) Gyokeres, fine.
“But I think that if Arsenal fans were being honest, they would definitely say they are probably a little bit underwhelmed by that area of the pitch in this window.
Arsenal’s 2026 summer transfer window
In:
- Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United) – £75m
- Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) – £55m
- Piero Hincapie (Bayer Leverkusen) – £45m
- Christos Tzolis (Club Brugge) – £34m
- Illan Meslier (Leeds United) – Free
Out:
- Leandro Trossard (Besiktas) – £18m
- Jakub Kiwior (Porto) – £15m
- Gabriel Jesus (Barcelona) – £8.6m
- Fabio Vieira (Hamburg) – Undisclosed
- Christian Norgaard (Everton) – £7m
- Karl Hein (Werder Bremen) – £2.6m
- Reiss Nelson (Feyenoord) – Free
- Ethan Nwaneri (Borussia Dortmund) – Loan
- Tommy Setford (Stevenage) – Loan
“The rest has been good, but selling three players and only bringing in one in Tzolis, that could be a bit risky.”
Martinelli’s impending exit to Al Hilal will leave Tzolis as Arsenal’s only recognised left winger.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz are their only senior centre-forwards.
Arteta is boosted, though, by the ability of his other forwards to play in a multitude of attacking roles.
Arsenal have a 100 per cent record after two matches this season, beating Coventry City and Aston Villa.
Ahead of Sunday’s visit from Chelsea, they only trail league leaders City on goals scored.
