Folarin Balogun's Transfer Saga: Everton's Hopes Dashed

When Folarin Balogun stepped off a private jet at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Tuesday lunchtime, it looked like the end of a long chase and the start of a new era for Everton.

The deal with Monaco was agreed: €45million (£39m, $52m) plus €5m in add-ons for the United States striker. The medical, the paperwork, the photos — that was all that seemed left. Everton finally had their man, the centre-forward they had chased all summer.

By the end of the night, nobody had what they wanted.

A window that promised everything

At Finch Farm on Tuesday, the mood was buoyant. Late in the window, Everton had moved decisively: Balogun in from Monaco, Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon, Jack Grealish returning on loan from Manchester City. All three were in for medicals.

Balogun was the jewel. He had been at the top of Everton’s list for weeks. Talks with his camp had dragged on through the summer, but only in the final days did a deal truly open up.

Had he joined David Moyes’ side, he would have walked straight into the upper tier of the wage structure, alongside Jordan Pickford, Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Everton believed they were signing a proven goalscorer entering his prime.

From Monaco’s side, the plan was clear. After three years at the club and a World Cup in which he scored three goals in four games, they felt Balogun was ready to move on. A senior figure at the club had said as much a month earlier. They had already lined up his replacement.

“We had already worked in advance to replace him, and we were fully ready to do this,” Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro said on Wednesday at a press conference.

Balogun had finally looked like the finished article last season: 19 goals in all competitions, including a blistering run of 10 in 10. His first year in Ligue 1 brought seven league goals and four missed penalties. His second was disrupted by a shoulder injury. The third showed why clubs like Everton were willing to stretch their budgets.

Everton, emboldened by the agreement, even sanctioned Beto’s permanent move to Fiorentina for €18m. The dominoes were falling into place.

Then the first alarm bell rang.

The medical that changed everything

The private jet from Nice was supposed to leave early on Tuesday morning. It didn’t. The flight was pushed back and eventually landed at lunchtime.

Everton, as is standard in major deals, requested GPS data to assess Balogun’s recent physical output. What they saw unsettled them.

By around 7pm, with the window already fraying everyone’s nerves, Monaco received a call. Everton had flagged an issue in Balogun’s medical that, in their view, could derail the move.

“Around 7pm we were contacted by Everton, raising questions on the medical of Balogun, which for our medical staff, and for the personal medical staff of the player, made totally no sense,” Scuro said. “The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns of the future of the player, which there is not.”

Everton’s doubts, Monaco’s disbelief. Into that gap stepped Chelsea.

Chelsea smell an opening

Chelsea had been circling Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara for 10 days. Monaco’s stance was firm: Balogun could go, Camara would stay for at least another season.

That changed the moment Everton hesitated.

“And then of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity,” Scuro said. Chelsea had already agreed to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City. They needed a midfielder. Monaco, they believed, suddenly needed money.

“‘OK, Monaco needs money. Balogun is struggling there. Let’s go. Let’s try’. And this is the game. It’s fair to play this game. There is no problem. Chelsea came and called us. ‘Oh, maybe I can be here for the solution’. And at that moment, we had to open the door for the discussion.”

Around 8pm, Monaco and Chelsea opened talks over Camara. Just over an hour later, they had an agreement: €55m (£47.2m; $63.7m).

Camara accepted a six-year deal with an option for a seventh. He completed his medical. Chelsea believed they had their midfielder.

Everton, meanwhile, scrambled.

Everton’s scramble for Plan B — and C

With Balogun in doubt, Everton’s recruitment team went back into the market. Options were limited. Time was worse.

They revisited an old connection: Joshua Zirkzee at Manchester United, who had once played in an Everton youth tournament on trial. Tammy Abraham at Aston Villa was also sounded out.

Initial contact with United over Zirkzee came at 5pm. A first offer followed at 8pm. It went nowhere. United rejected a loan proposal, unwilling to risk losing the striker without time to replace him.

Abraham, for his part, wanted to stay at Villa.

Everton were running out of names and minutes.

Then, a twist: the Balogun deal lurched back to life.

The dealsheet, the deadline and a refusal

After the medical concerns, the structure of the Balogun transfer was reworked. Everton would pay less up front, with more performance-based add-ons. The player’s personal terms stayed untouched.

With that compromise, the move looked on again.

Monaco told Chelsea at 11pm that Camara’s transfer was off. Chelsea, who believed they had a completed deal with a medical done and terms agreed, were furious. Camara, who had set his heart on Stamford Bridge, was left in limbo. At Chelsea, Monaco’s conduct is viewed as extraordinary and deeply unprofessional.

Everton and Monaco pressed on. They filed a dealsheet with the Premier League before the 11pm deadline, buying themselves an extra hour to finalise the paperwork.

“The Premier League has a mechanism in which you can request one extra hour to finish the paperwork,” Scuro said. “This was done. Five minutes to close the transfer window for us to finish all the paperwork between Monaco and Everton and Balogun. I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract.

“At the last moment, the player decided not to sign. And basically, Balogun’s allegation is that I’m not feeling well because of the way the club treated me. I’m not feeling well because Everton’s medical department raised doubts about my future or my health. I have nothing, so I’m not comfortable to sign a long contract here. And that’s the way we finish our transfer window.

“It’s the first time in my career that I saw a last day (deadline day) like this.”

Balogun walked away. No signature. No move.

Because Monaco had never signed Chelsea’s dealsheet for Camara, there was no way back for that transfer either. The window slammed shut with all three clubs stuck.

Collateral damage across three clubs

The fallout spread quickly.

Monaco lost the major sale they had banked on. They also saw Erik Lira’s proposed move from Cruz Azul collapse, unable to free up a non-EU spot in their squad without Balogun’s departure.

Everton finished the window with just one senior striker, Thierno Barry. They now plan to go back into the market in January. Until then, they will lean heavily on Barry, with Tyrique George a potential option through the middle if needed. Brennan Johnson and Tyler Dibling are seen as other solutions.

Supporters, already uneasy about the club’s direction, watched fan favourite Iliman Ndiaye leave for Manchester City. A proposed sale of homegrown talent Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest collapsed amid a furious reaction from the stands.

Then, at 10.10pm on deadline night, the club’s X account posted about the “Toffee Doughnut”. The timing was disastrous. Fans, starved of signings and clarity, responded with ridicule.

The Friedkin Group, who own both Everton and Roma, were juggling drama in two countries. In Italy, Roma head coach Gian Piero Gasperini vetoed the sale of key midfielder Manu Kone to Chelsea, while Jamie Leweling’s move from Stuttgart also fell through late on.

Chelsea, for their part, were left empty-handed and incensed. Camara’s agent, former Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara, went public with his anger.

On Instagram, Kamara wrote that African players deserve greater respect, arguing they are too often treated like “a mere commodity: we buy him, set his price, negotiate his future, and too often, his own wishes seem to come second”.

“A transfer should not be merely a matter between two clubs and numbers,” he continued. “Behind every contract, there is a person, a career, dreams, and life choices. Clubs may sometimes have the final say — that is a reality of professional football. But one question remains: what about the player’s career and his own wishes? The player must be heard and respected in the decisions that determine his future.”

Nobody got what they wanted. Everybody felt wronged.

Monaco turn to PSG, Balogun back in the spotlight

Monaco now face Paris Saint-Germain away on Friday, with the squad still digesting the chaos.

At Wednesday’s press conference, a tired-looking Scuro said he did not want to “create a war” with Chelsea or Everton. He also complained about the French transfer window closing at 8pm, earlier than in England, which left Monaco unable to line up replacements.

“Maybe we should start discussing following other countries that stay one day more, two days more,” he said.

According to French Football News, Camara was back in training on Wednesday. Balogun was not.

“For Balogun, I only spoke to him by phone,” Scuro said. “His arguments are clear. He’s coming back. I think he took the decision. There is not a big reason for him to be affected too much because it’s his decision.

“On Lamine, I really respect and understand. Because the player might have got excited during the day by conversations with the coach, by everything that a club like Chelsea can propose and promise to a player.”

Monaco head coach Filipe Luis expects Camara to face PSG.

“He is 100% able to play, and he needs to play. His head needs to be where he loves, on the pitch,” he said, in quotes reported by Get French Football News.

Balogun’s situation is far more delicate.

He has lived in the eye of the storm before. At the World Cup, he became one of the tournament’s central talking points when his red-card suspension was controversially overturned before the knockout tie against Belgium after an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.

He has recently changed agent, moving to Jorge Mendes from Eddie Bonsu at Elite Project Group. His contract at Monaco runs until summer 2028. Arsenal, who sold him to Monaco in 2023 for €40m including add-ons, hold a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause.

For now, the Premier League door has closed. Transfer windows in Turkey and Saudi Arabia remain open, but after a saga like this, every next step carries weight.

One jet, three clubs, two collapsed transfers, and a striker who decided, at the last possible moment, that he no longer liked what he saw. Where does he go from here?