Folarin Balogun Played Starring Role in Transfer Deadline Day Chaos

The unwanted drama of Folarin Balogun’s summer was supposed to have concluded back in July.

Belgium’s nut-and-bolt dismantling of the U.S. men’s national team in the World Cup round of 16 should have tied a neat bow on the controversy which Balogun’s suspended suspension unleashed. Yet, for the second time in a matter of months, the affable striker has found himself at the center of another dizzying storm.

U.S. President Donald Trump wasn’t to blame on this occasion—so it would appear. To decipher what exactly went wrong in Balogun’s bungled transfer to Everton, we need to peel back the layers of consequences which spread from Manchester to Mexico, drawing in almost half the Premier League and the most expensive deal agreed anywhere this summer.

Timeline of Events Caused By Folarin Balogun’s Everton Transfer Saga

Failed Medical Sees Balogun Transfer Collapse

Deadline Day began with Balogun seemingly on his way to Everton. The Toffees had agreed a $54.1 million (£40 million) deal with Monaco on Monday, paving the way for the USMNT World Cup star to undergo a medical at the club’s Finch Farm training ground. “Our plan worked very well in this moment,” Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro would reveal during an enlightening press conference the following day.

However, vague “issues” arose during those routine checks. “Around 7 p.m., we had a call from Everton raising questions on the medicals of Balo, which for our medical staff, the personnel staff of the player, made totally no sense,” Scuro explained.

Balogun had not made the matchday roster for any of Monaco’s first four fixtures of the new season, with his last competitive action that chastening afternoon in Seattle against Belgium.

It’s not clear what caused the Everton concern, but it clearly wasn’t enough to completely conclude negotiations. In fact, it gave David Moyes’s side license to head back to Monaco to renegotiate Balogun’s fee.

“The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns for the future of the player,” Scuro added. This discussion started for medical departments, it took Everton two to three hours to check through the assessment, this is a normal situation.” During that time, attentions were diverted elsewhere.

Everton Explore Move for Joshua Zirkzee

In the face of uncertainty over Balogun, Everton made a late approach for Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee, The Athletic subsequently revealed. The Dutch striker was open to the interest after reportedly turning down the advances of Fiorentina, but United weren’t keen.

The Red Devils would have been left with just one natural, senior center forward—an increasingly injury prone Benjamin Šeško—with only hours of the window remaining had Zirkzee’s exit been sanctioned. It would not prove to be the only deal off the table.

Chelsea Strike Agreement With Monaco for Lamine Camara

While Monaco were dealing with Balogun’s fluctuating future, there was the small matter of Lamine Camara’s proposed move to Chelsea. The well connected French journalist Romain Molina claimed that Scuro had been “bragging and demanding” upward of $80 million for his influential midfielder until Balogun’s uncertainty surfaced.

Scuro himself admitted that he had already rebuffed Chelsea on Tuesday afternoon before he was forced to soften that stance.

Monaco were only under pressure to make one major sale on Deadline Day to balance the books—which explains the initial game of Camara hard ball with the Balogun fee to lean upon. Once that was no longer guaranteed, Scuro was backed into a corner.

“Chelsea saw the opportunity: ‘Monaco needs money, Balo is strugglng there, let’s go, let’s try.’ This is the game,” the executive shrugged. “On this moment, we had to open the door for the discussion, we started conversations for Lamine, I informed the player directly, I informed his agent, we had discussions for the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea.”

There were still multiple hours of the transfer window remaining when Monaco accepted a sum of $63.7 million (£47.1 million) for Camara, who had been lined up as Enzo Fernández’s replacement at Stamford Bridge.

Everton Withdraw Balogun Concerns

According to Scuro, the mysterious issue in Balogun’s Everton medical had disappeared by 10 p.m.—an hour before the soft deadline. “Everton realized there is no problem,” he claimed. Having seen their interest in Zirkzee rebuffed and with Beto sold to Fiorentina, Moyes desperately needed one warm body to share the workload upfront with Thierno Barry.

In the knowledge that they had the fish back on the line, Scuro soon got back on the phone with Chelsea.

Monaco Back Out of Camara Transfer, Chelsea Furious

Camara had settled on personal terms with Chelsea, agreeing to a typically fulsome six-year contract, and a written club-to-club agreement had supposedly been submitted. However, once it looked as though Balogun’s move was back in the works, Monaco reneged on their position—much to the fury of Chelsea.

“It’s fair to do this, it’s part of the game,” Scuro argued.

Even though that fee for Balogun would not come through, no deal sheet had been submitted for Camara so there was no chance of any embarrassing backtracking in the early hours of the morning.

Chelsea Opt Not to Pull Plug on Enzo Fernandez Move to Man City

£100m. Twice over. pic.twitter.com/MuPDAM6pAo
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) September 1, 2026

Chelsea had already seen an approach for Manu Koné come to nothing by the time they had the rug pulled from beneath them by Monaco. The Blues could feasibly have followed the same example and canceled Fernández’s record-equaling move to Manchester City but the club let their wantaway player slip away.

As has been widely reported, Chelsea “preferred to honor their word.”

Balogun Decides to Stay at Monaco, Ending Everton Transfer Saga

At 10:55 p.m. U.K. time, just five minutes before the window closed, Everton and Monaco both signed a deal sheet to allow an additional two-hour ‘grace period’ for the finalization of all details regarding Balogun’s transfer. But there was one John Hancock missing.

“I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, at the last moment the player decided not to sign,” Scuro revealed. There had been a change of heart.

“I’m not feeling well by the way the club treated me, the way the medical team brought doubts about my future or my health. I’m not comfortable to sign a long contract here,” was the thought process of Balogun, as relayed by Scuro.

Balogun did not appear in Monaco training the following morning, with talk of a move to a league with its transfer window still open propagated by Scuro himself: “We still have other markets open, which we are having discussions in different players including Balo, let’s see what can still happen until Thursday, because we still have markets that have the financial capacity to do something and this is what happened and this is where we are today.”

The repercussions didn’t end with Balogun and Everton.

Balogun Transfer Chaos Costs Mexico’s Erik Lira Dream European Move

One last consequence impacted poor Erik Lira. One of Mexico’s stars at the World Cup had been lined up by Monaco as a late target. Cruz Azul’s destructive midfielder would not have been a direct replacement on the pitch for Balogun, but Lira needed the U.S. international to leave so that he could take his non-E.U. slot on Monaco’s roster.

With Balogun still technically on the club’s books, there was no place for Lira, who had also been chased by Sunderland only to prioritize a move to the French principality.

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