As I enter the room, Lamine Camara picks up a football that he won’t let go of until after the interview. It’s a simple visual metaphor for a dream he has never let slip. “I only wanted football; I was focused solely on that,” says the Monaco and Senegal midfielder. His determination and talent convinced Génération Foot, Metz and Monaco to sign him. Although the hardest person to convince was not a sporting director or manager, but his own father.
“He didn’t want me to play football but it’s because he hadn’t seen me play,” says Camara. “He didn’t know anything about football but people came up to him and said: ‘Your son knows how to play. You have to help him.’” Eventually, on “one beautiful day”, Camara earned his father’s blessing and pursued a career in the game. His small stature was another hurdle and it deterred local club Casa Sports from handing him a contract.
However, Génération Foot – the club that produced Sadio Mané, Papiss Cissé and Ismaïla Sarr – were convinced immediately. Camara was named the best player in a regional tournament while playing for Casa Sports and Génération Foot were “shocked” to discover the midfielder did not have a contract. They acted quickly. “They took me straight to the training centre. They didn’t want me to go back to Casamance and sign with another club. I left with them and the next day I signed the contract,” said Camara.
The move set him on a pathway to Europe. His breakthrough came in 2023, “an unforgettable year”, which began with Camara winning the African Nations Championship – a similar competition to the Africa Cup of Nations but for players playing in their domestic leagues. Having just played in one international tournament, Camara considered pulling out of the Under-20s Afcon two week later. In the end he played. “I will never refuse to represent my country,” reasoned Camara, who went on to win the tournament and be named best player.
A month later, he was unveiled as a Metz player, following in the footsteps of Mané, who made the same move. “Adapting was never a problem,” says the 21-year-old. At Metz, and now at Monaco, he has lived alone. “My family have never come to Europe,” he says. “They want me to be focused on football and don’t want me to be distracted by other things. They want to leave me alone and I like to be alone at home, too. They respect that.”
Distractions are not really a problem for Camara, who is inspired by Kevin De Bruyne’s “modesty”, with the former Manchester City midfielder’s lack of “interest in clothes” particularly admired by the young midfielder. He is also a big admirer of De Bruyne’s game: “It’s his crossing quality, his vision, his passing,” says Camara, who also has vision – as he showed when he spotted Philipp Köhn miles off his line and scored from his own half, against Monaco, in October 2023.
It was his first goal in France. “It allowed me to pass a milestone,” says Camara. That goal is still talked about among the Monaco squad, which he joined in the summer of 2024. “When I get the ball in training, my teammates tell Köhn: ‘Careful, Lamine’s got the ball’,” jokes Camara.
His ball striking and precision at set pieces are just two of his many assets. He says he has become a complete modern midfielder by “copying” from players who inspire him. “I really admire Fede Valverde. He gives everything he has, works for the team and isn’t there for individual stats,” says Camara, who was also a fan of Toni Kroos’ metronomic “calm” and “the rage” of his international teammate, Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Camara is no stranger to a red card himself and admits he needs to dial it down. He was sent off in his second game for Metz and then did the same at Monaco. “It is a habit that is following me!” he jokes. “It’s my game. Sometimes I’m on the limit but in some moments I don’t control my efforts. It is a bit of a fault of mine. Sometimes I should manage my effort better. I want to do the right things, to help my teammates.”
Camara also takes inspiration from his teammates, notably Denis Zakaria: “I really benefit from learning alongside him. He knows that, too. I’m young so he doesn’t hesitate to give me advice.” He is also eager to learn from Paul Pogba. “I ask him all sorts of questions, even ones about Senegalese food. He said his favourite is Thieboudienne – like everyone else!”
“As soon as I heard Monaco were interested in Pogba, I told myself we are really lucky to have him in our team. We know he is a world-class player, but he doesn’t show that [in the dressing room]. He is always humble and stays true to himself. We know he is a player who will bring us a lot through his experience. We hope he will be fit again soon. We will really need him this season.”
Pogba could be a big help to a Monaco side currently ninth in Ligue 1. “We know we are losing points that we shouldn’t.” says Camara. “In these moments, the manager [Sébastien Pocognoli] reassures us – he tells us all the time that he is behind us and we’ll get through it.”
Right now, Monaco’s form is at the back of his mind as he concentrates on trying to win the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. “We are the favourites – we can’t hide from that. If you beat England and beat them in their own country …”, he says, adding that the 3-1 win in Nottingham in the summer was a “memorable moment” in his career.
Could he move across the Channel in future? “For now, I am really happy at Monaco. I feel really at ease here: the players are kind and ambitious, and I have a manager who trusts me. I follow the Premier League a lot – everyone does. I’m not thinking about changing clubs but we will see what happens at the end of the season,” says Camara.
If he were to move to the Premier League, he would be following in the footsteps of former Liverpool and Bolton forward El-Hadji Diouf, who frequently “teases” him about winning two Africa Young Player of the Year awards in 2023 and 2024. Diouf won the senior Africa Player of the Year award on two occasions and doesn’t allow Camara to forget about it. “I told him, ‘Until I have two Africa Player of the Year awards, you’ll never drop it. So I’ll forget about these two awards, given that they’re only small,” he says with a laugh. Camara is joking but he is serious about targeting bigger prizes in 2026 and beyond.
This is an article by Get French Football News