Folarin Balogun and the extraordinary chain of events that led to his transfer collapsing

When Folarin Balogun landed in a private jet at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Tuesday lunchtime, it appeared his move to Everton was a formality.

The previous evening, Everton had reached an agreement with Monaco to sign the United States striker in a deal worth €45m (£39m, $52m), with €5m add-ons.

All that was left was to iron out the final details and for Balogun to complete his medical. Everton would then have the striker they had craved all summer.

Everton were delighted by the chance to sign Balogun, a player they had feared would be out of reach after his impressive performances at the World Cup.

With Balogun seemingly on the way, Everton were happy to sanction the departure of Beto to Fiorentina in a permanent deal worth €18m.

However, after Balogun touched down in Liverpool, few could have foreseen the extraordinary chain of events that would follow — and ultimately lead to the collapse of Chelsea’s deal to sign Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara.

To tell this story, The Athletic spoke to several people with knowledge of the circumstances around the deals, who spoke anonymously to protect relationships, unless otherwise noted.

This is the story of the chaotic end to the transfer window involving Balogun, Camara, Everton, Chelsea and Monaco.

At Everton’s Finch Farm training ground on Tuesday, there was a feeling of optimism after late deals had been struck to sign Balogun and Lyon’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles, with Jack Grealish returning on loan from Manchester City.

All three had their medicals at the training ground on Tuesday.

There was real excitement at the prospect of signing Balogun, who had been top of their wish list all summer.

Everton had spoken to the player’s camp for weeks, but it was only in the final days that it became clear a deal could be done.

Had Balogun joined David Moyes’ side, he would have been a top earner alongside Jordan Pickford, Jarrad Branthwaite and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Monaco had planned for Balogun to depart this summer, following three years at the club and after a World Cup in which he scored three goals in four matches. A senior club figure told The Athletic the previous month that they felt Balogun was ready for the next step in his career.

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

Balogun found his best form at Monaco during the last campaign, scoring 19 goals in all competitions, including a run of 10 goals in 10 matches. In his first season, he scored seven Ligue 1 goals, and also missed four penalties, while his second was hampered by a shoulder injury.

As deadline day progressed, Everton felt there were some early warning signs regarding the Balogun move.

The private jet carrying Balogun from Nice was initially scheduled to leave early on Tuesday morning, but was pushed back and landed at lunchtime instead.

Everton requested GPS data to better understand the player’s situation, as is standard practice in such deals. At that point, Everton had some concerns over what they saw in the data.

It was around 7pm on Tuesday, the final day of an already manic transfer window, that Monaco were told by Everton of an issue flagged in Balogun’s medical, which had the potential to derail the transfer.

“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 at Wednesday’s press conference. “The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns of the future of the player, which there is not.”

Scuro said it was at that point that Chelsea — he said they had been in contact with Monaco about Camara for 10 days — sensed an opening.

Until then, Monaco’s stance was that they were happy to sell Balogun, but wanted to keep Senegal international Camara for another season.

“And then of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity,” Scuro said, the London club having stepped up their interest after agreeing to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City. “‘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 then entered negotiations with Chelsea over the sale of 22-year-old Camara. Just over an hour later, a €55m (£47.2m; £63.7m) deal had been agreed between the two clubs.

As reported by The Athletic last night, Camara had agreed terms on a six-year contract at Chelsea, with the option of a further 12 months, and completed a medical.

The situation also left Everton scrambling for alternatives, with Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee — who played in a youth tournament for Everton during a trial — and Tammy Abraham of Aston Villa sounded out as possibilities.

A first offer was made to United about Zirkzee at 8pm, after Everton made initial contact at 5pm.

Abraham wanted to stay at Villa, while United rejected the Zirzkee loan proposal as they felt they had insufficient time to line up a replacement.

But then there was a late twist.

Following issues flagged in Balogun’s medical, the structure of the deal was amended, meaning Everton would pay less up front but with more performance-based add-ons included.

There was no change to the player’s personal terms.

With the Balogun deal apparently revived, Monaco informed Chelsea at 11pm that the Camara deal was now off, leaving the London club seething. Camara also now had his heart set on Chelsea. Monaco’s behaviour is viewed at Chelsea as extraordinary and deeply unprofessional.

As they worked to finalise the Balogun transfer, Everton and Monaco signed a dealsheet before the 11pm deadline, allowing them to get it over the line.

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

There was no prospect at that stage of the Camara deal being revived because Chelsea’s dealsheet for the player had not been signed by Monaco.

The collapse of the Balogun transfer also meant Erik Lira’s planned move to Monaco from Cruz Azul also fell through, as the French club had not been able to free up a non-EU player spot in their squad.

The frantic end to proceedings ultimately suited no one.

Monaco failed to make the sale of a key asset they needed to generate funds; Everton were left with just one senior striker in Thierno Barry; Chelsea were left fuming by Monaco’s approach, while Camara’s agent also expressed his disappointment.

In an Instagram post, former Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara, who represents Camara and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr, said 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 wrote. “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.”

For Everton, it marked a sorry end to an underwhelming transfer window — fan favourite Iliman Ndiaye left to join Manchester City, while an angry reaction from supporters prevented homegrown talent Harrison Armstrong from being sold to Nottingham Forest.

Meanwhile, their decision to post about the ‘Toffee Doughnut’ on their X feed at 10.10pm on deadline day prompted ridicule from their fanbase.

Their owners, The Friedkin Group, which also owns Roma, also had to contend with a busy deadline day in Italy, with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini vetoing the sale of key midfielder Manu Kone to Chelsea and Jamie Leweling’s move from Stuttgart falling through.

Everton now plan to sign a striker in January, but until then are reliant on Barry, although Tyrique George could be deployed down the middle if required. Brennan Johnson and Tyler Dibling are viewed as other options.

For Monaco, attention now turns to the daunting prospect of Paris Saint-Germain away on Friday.

At Wednesday’s press conference, a weary-looking Scuro said he did not want to “create a war” with Chelsea and Everton.

According to French Football News, Camara was back in training on Wednesday, but Balogun was absent.

“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.”

Scuro also voiced his frustration at the French transfer window shutting at 8pm, earlier than in England, which meant they could not line up necessary replacements.

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

Speaking at press conference yesterday, Monaco manager Filipe Luis said he expected Camara to play against PSG tomorrow night.

“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.

It leaves Balogun in a tricky position, and in the spotlight once more.

At the World Cup, he became one of the tournament’s biggest talking points when his red-card suspension was controversially overturned before the knockout match against Belgium following an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Balogun changed agent in recent weeks to Jorge Mendes, having previously been with Eddie Bonsu from Elite Project Group. His contract at Monaco expires in summer 2028. He joined them from Arsenal in summer 2023 in a deal worth €40m after add-ons. Arsenal inserted a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause into the deal.

The door to the Premier League may be shut for now, but markets in Turkey and Saudi Arabia remain open.

But after such a saga, what happens next is anyone’s guess.

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