Everton eventually saw their move to sign Folarin Balogun fail at the last minute, leaving David Moyes desperately short of options up front, and Monaco have now had their say on the events from deadline day
Thiago Scuro and Folarin Balogun
Everton's move to sign Folarin Balogun failed in the closing stages of the transfer window.(Image: Getty Images)
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AS Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro claims Florian Balogun walked away from his Everton move after alleging he was mistreated by the club and the medical staff. The Blues suffered late transfer window disappointment when the American international walked away from signing a deal.
Chelsea and Everton found themselves in a tug-of-war with the Ligue 1 side with the Londoners pushing to sign midfielder Lamine Camara. Monaco had went into deadline day open to selling Balogun, but against sanctioning a deal for the Senegalese.
Balogun was set to be Everton's marquee signing but doubts had been raised during his medical, threatening the deal. However, with the contracts signed to complete the move for the former Arsenal youngster, the player walked away and it has now been claimed that the incident caused enough upset from the 25-year-old to reject a move to the Premier League.
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, the Ligue 1 chief said: "The allegation of Balogun is that, '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'. That the way we finished the transfer window here."
Everton have been approached for comment.
The extraordinary claim from the 44-year-old came in the wake of a chastening transfer window for David Moyes, leaving him with one senior striker.
Monaco were forced to open the door to a sale for Camara when concerns over a move for Balogun emerged. The Brazilian chief argued that Everton's made no sense but were not unique in transfer negotiations.
Scuro began: "During the day (transfer deadline day), we had a clear agreement for Balogun to go to Everton, Balogun flew to Everton to undergo a medical. Our plan worked very well in this moment in terms of generation of revenue, players transfer. Balo going, besides the salary, an important income to help balance the season and Lamine staying.
"What happened in the afternoon, Chelsea was always testing and trying for Lamine, I was in contact for the last 10 days. Around 4pm, we got a call from Chelsea, 'OK, we sold a player in this position, is there any possibility that Monaco would sell Lamine (Camara)' the answer was the same. No.
"Balo was in Liverpool going through his medical, around 7pm, 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.
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"The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns for the future of the player, this discussion started for medical departments, it took Everton two to three hours to check through the assessment, this is a normal situation.
"This was ongoing, meanwhile this was in the press quite quickly, it was already in the media that Balogun is failing the medical and of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity, 'Monaco needs money, Balo is strugglng there, let's go, let's try.' This is the game.
"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. Meanwhile, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balo.
"Around 10pm, Everton realised there is no problem. As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea that we have our deal there and there's no deal for Lamine. It's fair to do this, it's part of the game.
"Premier League has a mechanism where you have one extra hour to finish the paperwork, this was done five minutes before the close of the transfer window for us to finsh paperwork between Balogun and Everton. I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, at the last moment the player decided not to sign.
"Now, we are still waiting for Balo to come back and to sit and discuss and to realise between us what is next. 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. Whatever was not clear, I am open to answer."
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