U.S. men's national team and Monaco striker Folarin Balogun was one of the breakout stars of the World Cup. But on top of that, he's been at the center of two of the stranger soccer stories this year. Truly, nothing has been normal for him in both club and country.
Two months after Balogun's red card suspension was suspiciously rescinded amid a call from Donald Trump, the Monaco striker was set to make a big-money move on Tuesday's deadline day. Clubs like Barcelona, PSG and Tottenham had reportedly showed interest in Balogun. But Balogun ultimately settled on a move to Premier League side Everton.
Initially, the process seemed to be going smoothly. Prominent soccer reporterssaid the deal was agreed upon at a $52.17 million fee. Balogun was headed
to Liverpool to go through his physical and formalities with Everton's staff to finalize the transfer.
That's when everything went awry.
Balogun's medical sent off a chain reaction
According to multiple reports, Everton's doctor raised concerns with Balogun's physical despite the USMNT striker not suffering any injury during (or since) the World Cup. The deal was suddenly in doubt.
Monaco, though, is strapped for cash and needed to make a big-money sale fast. With Balogun's sale in limbo, the club approached Chelsea about Lamine Camara and agreed to a $63 million sale. As that looked to be done, Balogun's camp went to multiple doctors in Liverpool to challenge Everton's assessment.
Everton, which seemingly wanted to negotiate a lesser fee, relented and agreed to proceed with the Balogun transfer. Monaco — not wanting to sell two star players — went to Chelsea and canceled the Camara sale, infuriating Chelsea as it was now left without a replacement for Enzo Fernandez (who moved to Manchester City). But Balogun was also furious.
According to Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro, Balogun was so angry with how Everton treated him that he no longer wanted to play there. He refused to sign, and the deal was off. Via The Athletic:
“Balo mentioned to us this feeling that was not comfortable, he didn’t want to sign, we didn’t see ourselves in a position to push him for nothing,” Scuro said, claiming the medical issues brought forward by Everton “were not enough to justify or to bring concerns of the future of the player”.
“This discussion started between medical departments from here and there,” he added. “It took forever, around two, three hours to go deep on the assessment check with other doctors.”
That left three clubs with losing results. Everton didn't get a striker. Monaco couldn't make the sale it desperately needed to make. Chelsea was left without a star midfielder to replace Fernandez. Absolute mayhem.
What's next for Balogun?
While it was understandable for Balogun to not want to play for a club that treated him poorly, the 25-year-old is now basically giving up a year of his prime for short-term playing options.
He could theoretically stay at Monaco in Ligue 1, but Scuro said that the club is still determined to move Balogun with his value at an all-time high. That leaves Balogun with three less-than-idea options. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and MLS all have later transfer deadlines.
Balogun could entertain a move to Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe and play in the Champions League. He could also serve as a rental for an MLS team for the playoffs before getting flipped to Europe in the January window. The MLS transfer deadline is Thursday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern Time. Bringing that kind of star power to MLS after his World Cup performance would be huge — even if it's just for a couple of months.
Then, there is Saudi Arabia, which has money to spend. But it would be of little benefit to Balogun to play in an even weaker league than MLS.
“We are still waiting Balo to come back for us, to sit and discuss and to realize between us what’s next,” Scuro said in a press conference, via Monaco’s YouTube channel. “We still have other markets open which we are having discussions … different players including Balo, let’s see what can still happen until Thursday because we still have markets that has the financial capacity to do something.”
We'll have to see what happens, but this saga likely isn't over yet.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why Folarin Balogun walked away from his Everton transfer at the last minute
