Monaco's chief executive, Thiago Scuro, has laid the blame for the collapse of Folarin Balogun's proposed £40m transfer to Everton squarely on the Merseyside club, accusing them of mishandling the striker's medical assessment and shaking his confidence in the move.
Balogun had put pen to paper on a deal sheet just before 11pm on deadline day, a document that would have allowed Everton extra time to finalize the paperwork and complete the signing. Yet, in a stunning twist, the American international withdrew from the transfer shortly afterward, leaving both clubs scrambling in the final hours of the window.
Everton had already been forced to restructure the financial terms of the deal with Monaco after concerns emerged from their medical staff, following unsuccessful efforts to instead bring in Joshua Zirkzee or Tammy Abraham on loan. Sources close to Everton claim Balogun arrived later than planned from France and that Monaco was sluggish in providing the necessary medical documentation, compressing the time available to address any issues.
However, speaking at a press conference in Monaco on Wednesday, Scuro pushed back firmly against that narrative, insisting the fault lay with how Everton's staff handled the situation. "The Premier League has a mechanism where you can request one extra hour to finish the paperwork," Scuro explained. "This was done five minutes to the close of the transfer window there. I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract. At the last moment, the player decided not to sign." He characterized Balogun's position as one of discomfort: "I'm not feeling well by the way the club treated me. I'm not feeling well by the way the medical department of Everton brought doubts about my future or my health. I have nothing, so I'm not comfortable to sign a long contract here."
Scuro was keen to stress he wasn't seeking conflict with either Everton or Chelsea, but he strongly contested the validity of Everton's medical concerns. According to his account, Balogun underwent his medical examination in Liverpool around 4pm and everything appeared to proceed smoothly. It wasn't until roughly 7pm that Everton raised questions about the results — concerns that, he said, both Monaco's medical team and the player's personal doctors found baffling. "The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns of the future of the player. Which there isn't," he said.
As the two clubs' medical departments went back and forth for several hours, word of the supposed medical issues leaked to the press remarkably fast — something Scuro suggested opened the door for Chelsea to swoop in.
Indeed, Chelsea had been closing in on a separate £47m deal for Monaco's Lamine Camara, intended to fill the void left by Enzo Fernández's move to Manchester City, with a written agreement reportedly already in place. But once Everton signaled around 10pm local time that they were prepared to push ahead with the Balogun transfer after all, Monaco pivoted back to that deal and informed Chelsea the Camara agreement was off. "As soon as we got the information, yes, we did come back to Chelsea and told them: 'OK, we have our deal there. There is no deal on Lamine,'" Scuro said, adding that reversing course was simply part of the business. "There is no reason that this kind of discussions... [makes Monaco] the bad guys in the room."
Despite the chaotic conclusion to their window, Monaco remains under financial pressure from French regulatory bodies to generate revenue through sales, potentially to clubs in leagues where the transfer window is still open. As for Camara, Scuro expressed optimism about his future prospects, stating he expects the midfielder will soon receive offers even more attractive than Chelsea's.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.