Monaco's CEO said Folarin Balogun felt mistreated by Everton after the Premier League club found issues in his medical, leading the striker to walk away from a transfer.
It was a wild deadline day for the U.S. men's national team forward, whose move to Everton was on, then off, then back on, then finally off after he decided not to sign despite traveling to the club's training ground in Liverpool.
According to multiple reports on Monday, Aug. 31, the two sides agreed to a deal that would see Balogun join Everton in a move worth $52.3 million (€45m) with an additional $5.8m (€5m) in add-ons.
But that deal hit a snag on Tuesday, Sept. 1 as Everton found an unspecified issue in the 25-year-old's medical exam. According to Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro,
both the Ligue 1 club and Balogun himself disagreed with Everton's assessment.
"Around 7 p.m., we were contacted by Everton, raising questions about Balogun’s medical, which, for our medical staff, as well as for the player’s personal medical staff, made no sense at all," Scuro said at a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
According to Scuro, Everton brought in specialists to reassess Balogun's medical. With only hours until the deadline, doctors gave the go-ahead and the two clubs managed to renegotiate a deal.
But at that point, Scuro said that Balogun wasn't feeling right about Everton. The striker walked away from the deal, returning to Monaco.
"I signed the contract. Everton signed the contract. At the last moment, the players 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 (no health problem), so I’m not comfortable signing a long contract here. And that’s the way we finish our transfer window."
Balogun returns to Monaco facing an uncertain future. Scuro admitted the forward could still leave in the coming days, but he would have to join a team in one of the few leagues that still has an open transfer window, such as Turkey or Saudi Arabia.
"Now we are still waiting for Balo to come back for us to sit and discuss and to realize between us what’s next," Scuro said.
"We still have other markets open, which we are having discussions about with 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."
Balogun saw his stock soar after this summer's World Cup, where he led the USMNT in goals with three as Mauricio Pochettino's side reached the round of 16 on home soil.The striker scored 19 goals for Monaco in a breakout campaign last season.
The New York-born, London-raised forward joined Monaco in 2023 after developing through Arsenal's academy. He has appeared in 91 matches and has scored 31 goals for the Ligue 1 club.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Monaco CEO explains why Folarin Balogun cancelled Everton transfer
