Folarin Balogun Transfer Saga: Everton's Last-Minute Drama

When Folarin Balogun stepped off a private jet at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Tuesday lunchtime, Everton thought the hunt was over.

They had their striker. Or so they believed.

The night before, Everton had shaken hands with Monaco on a €45million (£39m, $52m) deal, with a further €5m in add-ons. Months of frustration, of chasing targets and hitting dead ends, seemed to be easing. All that remained were the formalities: the medical, the final paperwork, the signatures.

At Finch Farm, optimism crackled.

Everton’s big plan

Inside the training ground on Tuesday, the mood bordered on buoyant. Balogun, Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon and Jack Grealish returning on loan from Manchester City were all in for medicals. Three deals, all late, all significant.

Balogun was the jewel. Everton had chased him all summer, speaking to his camp for weeks. Only in the final days did Monaco’s stance soften enough for a deal to look realistic.

Had he signed, Balogun would have walked into Goodison Park as one of the club’s top earners, alongside Jordan Pickford, Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. This was the marquee forward they had been missing.

Monaco were prepared. After three years in the principality and a World Cup in which he scored three goals in four games, the club had long expected Balogun to move on. A senior figure had already said he was ready for the “next step”.

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

Balogun’s form last season backed that up: 19 goals in all competitions, including a streak of 10 in 10. His first year had been patchier — seven Ligue 1 goals and four missed penalties — and his second disrupted by a shoulder injury. But by this summer, Monaco were sellers.

Everton were so confident they sanctioned Beto’s permanent move to Fiorentina for €18m. One forward out, a more expensive one in. The plan was clear.

Then the details began to fray.

The medical, the doubt, the opening

Balogun’s jet from Nice was supposed to leave early on Tuesday morning. It didn’t. The flight was pushed back and landed at lunchtime instead. A small delay, but on deadline day, small delays can grow teeth.

Everton requested GPS data to check Balogun’s physical condition — standard in modern transfers, but revealing. What they saw raised concerns.

By around 7pm, they had gone from excited to uneasy.

Monaco received a call. Everton flagged an issue in Balogun’s medical that, they suggested, could threaten 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.”

While Everton hesitated, another door creaked open.

Chelsea had been circling Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara for 10 days. Until that point, Monaco’s line was firm: Balogun could go, Camara would stay. But the moment doubts surfaced over the striker, the equation changed.

“And then of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity,” Scuro said. The London club had just agreed to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City and needed a midfield replacement. “’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.”

Chelsea called. Monaco listened.

Chelsea move in for Camara

At around 8pm, Monaco and Chelsea began formal negotiations over 22-year-old Senegal international Camara. The talks moved fast. Just over an hour later, they had agreed a €55m (£47.2m; $63.7m) fee.

Camara accepted a six-year contract with an option for a further 12 months and completed his medical. From Chelsea’s side, everything was in place. They believed they had their man.

The ripple effect hit Everton immediately. With Balogun’s deal in doubt, they scrambled for alternatives.

Joshua Zirkzee, now at Manchester United but once a trialist in an Everton youth tournament, was sounded out. So was Tammy Abraham at Aston Villa.

Everton contacted United about Zirkzee at 5pm and followed up with a first offer at 8pm. United turned it down. They felt they had no time to find a replacement. Abraham, for his part, wanted to stay at Villa.

Time bled away. Options narrowed.

Then, late in the night, the Balogun saga lurched again.

A deal revived, a deal killed

After the initial medical concerns, Everton and Monaco reworked the structure of the Balogun transfer. Less money up front, more performance-related add-ons. The total package stayed the same, the risk shifted.

Balogun’s personal terms did not change.

With that compromise, the transfer roared back to life. Monaco informed Chelsea at 11pm that the Camara deal was now off. Chelsea, who believed they had a €55m agreement, a completed medical and personal terms in place, were furious. Camara, who had set his heart on the move, was left stunned.

Inside Stamford Bridge, Monaco’s handling of the situation is viewed as extraordinary and deeply unprofessional.

But Monaco had their priority: close Balogun to Everton and bank the money.

Everton and Monaco submitted a dealsheet before the 11pm Premier League deadline, buying themselves an extra hour to finish the paperwork.

“The Premier League has a mechanism in which you can request one extra hour to finish the paperwork,” Scuro explained. “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.”

The final step was simple. The player had to sign.

He didn’t.

“At the last moment, the player decided not to sign,” Scuro said. “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 like this.”

Because Monaco had never signed Chelsea’s dealsheet for Camara, that move could not be revived. When Balogun walked away, both transfers collapsed.

So did another: Erik Lira’s proposed move from Cruz Azul to Monaco. Without Balogun leaving, Monaco could not free up a non-EU squad slot. Lira stayed in Mexico.

Nobody wins

By midnight, the wreckage was clear.

Monaco had failed to cash in on a key asset and missed out on Lira. Everton, having sold Beto, were left with just one senior striker, Thierno Barry. Chelsea were left empty-handed and seething. Camara’s camp felt betrayed.

Diomansy Kamara, the former Fulham forward who represents Camara and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr, made his anger public. On Instagram, he wrote that African players deserved greater respect.

“We need to move away from this way of thinking in which an African player can sometimes be made to feel like a mere commodity: we buy him, set his price, negotiate his future, and too often, his own wishes seem to come second,” he said. “A transfer should not be merely a matter between two clubs and numbers.

“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.”

At Everton, the fallout stung. Fan favourite Iliman Ndiaye had gone to Manchester City earlier in the window. A proposed sale of homegrown talent Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest was abandoned after a fierce backlash from supporters.

Then, at 10.10pm on deadline day, with the club’s search for a striker unravelling, Everton’s official X account posted about a “Toffee Doughnut”. The timing drew ridicule from their own fans.

The Friedkin Group, Everton’s owners and also in charge at Roma, were juggling chaos on two fronts. In Italy, head coach Gian Piero Gasperini vetoed the sale of key midfielder Manu Kone to Chelsea, while Jamie Leweling’s move from Stuttgart collapsed.

Everton now intend to go back into the market for a striker in January. Until then, they will lean heavily on Barry. Tyrique George could be used through the middle if needed, with Brennan Johnson and Tyler Dibling also seen as options.

Monaco, Chelsea, Balogun: the morning after

For Monaco, attention turns quickly to the pitch: Paris Saint-Germain away on Friday, a daunting fixture at the best of times.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Scuro looked drained. He insisted he did not want to “create a war” with Chelsea or Everton, but he did not hide his irritation at the French transfer window closing at 8pm, three hours earlier than in England.

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

According to French Football News, Camara returned to training on Wednesday. Balogun did 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 play against 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.

Balogun, though, finds himself back in the spotlight.

At the World Cup, he became a central talking point when his red-card suspension was controversially overturned before the knockout match against Belgium after an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.

He has recently switched agents, leaving Eddie Bonsu of Elite Project Group for Jorge Mendes. His Monaco contract 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 swung shut. Markets in Turkey and Saudi Arabia remain open, and clubs there are watching.

But after a deadline day like this, and a player willing to walk away with the pen in his hand, who dares predict his next move?