AS Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has revealed exactly what happened during the extraordinary collapse of Folarin Balogun’s proposed move to Everton – including why the striker ultimately refused to sign his contract.
Balogun’s £40m move to Everton appeared to be heading for completion on deadline day after the two clubs reached an agreement, only for concerns over the striker’s medical to throw the deal into doubt.
Everton subsequently renegotiated the terms with Monaco and submitted a deal sheet to the Premier League, giving the clubs additional time to complete the transfer.
But even after those complications appeared to have been resolved, Balogun walked away.
Speaking at a press conference in Monaco on Wednesday, Scuro provided his account of the extraordinary sequence of events.
🗣️ Thiago Scuro est revenu en conférence de presse sur le déroulé de la dernière journée de mercato absolument lunaire :
"Nous avons été approchés par beaucoup de clubs cet été, notre priorité a toujours été que Lamine reste.
Même hier matin, après l'entraînement, nous avons eu… pic.twitter.com/UNA6IoofGW
— Lig'ASM 🇲🇨 (@LigASM_) September 2, 2026
Everton raised concerns over Balogun medical
According to Scuro, Balogun travelled to England on Tuesday morning to undergo his medical and complete the transfer.
By around 4pm, the striker was in Liverpool undergoing his assessment.
However, around 7pm, Monaco were contacted by Everton with questions regarding the results of the medical.
Scuro said the concerns raised by Everton’s medical department came as a surprise because Monaco’s own medical team, along with Balogun’s personal medical staff, did not believe there was an issue.
The Monaco chief explained that the two medical departments subsequently spent around two to three hours discussing the assessment, with Everton seeking further opinions and examining the issue in greater detail.
That appeared to put the transfer in serious danger.
However, by around 10pm, Everton had apparently reached a different conclusion.
Scuro said Everton informed Monaco that they were ready to proceed and sign the contract.
Balogun then changed his mind
The drama, however, was far from over.
With the Premier League’s deal-sheet mechanism providing an additional hour to complete the paperwork, Monaco, Everton and Balogun continued working to get the transfer over the line.
And according to Scuro, the deal was effectively completed from the clubs’ perspective.
With just minutes remaining, Scuro says he had signed the contract and Everton had signed the contract.
But Balogun did not.
Scuro explained that the striker had become uncomfortable with the situation and ultimately decided against making the move to Everton.
“At that point, there were 5 minutes left in the Premier League transfer window to complete the paperwork for Balogun. I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, and at the last moment, the player decided not to sign. Balogun’s reasons are that he didn’t feel good about how the club (Everton) treated him and how the club’s medical department raised doubts about his future and physical condition. He wasn’t comfortable signing a long-term contract there.”
It was the final twist in one of the most extraordinary transfer sagas Everton have been involved in.
Monaco chief says Everton medical caused doubts
Scuro’s comments provide the clearest explanation yet of what caused Balogun to pull out.
The Monaco CEO was careful not to directly criticise Everton and repeatedly stressed that he did not want to create a conflict with the club.
However, his account makes clear that the medical concerns were significant enough to affect Balogun’s confidence in joining Everton.
From the player’s perspective, the situation appears to have changed from travelling to England expecting to sign a long-term contract to being told that Everton’s medical department had concerns about his physical condition.
Even though Everton ultimately decided to proceed, those concerns had apparently left Balogun uncomfortable about committing himself to the club.
Scuro later confirmed that Monaco had attempted to find a solution and had even agreed to slightly better payment conditions for the player.
But Balogun had made his decision.
“We didn’t see ourselves in a position to push him,” Scuro said. “We had to respect.”
An extraordinary ending to Everton’s transfer window
The revelation adds another layer to an already chaotic end to Everton’s summer transfer window.
The club had allowed Beto to leave for Fiorentina believing Balogun would replace him, only for the Monaco striker’s move to collapse at the final hurdle.
Everton were subsequently unable to complete alternative deals for Joshua Zirkzee or Tammy Abraham, leaving David Moyes with just one recognised senior centre-forward in Thierno Barry.
Scuro’s account also highlights just how close Everton came to completing the Balogun transfer.
The two clubs had reached an agreement.
The medical concerns had been discussed.
The terms had been renegotiated.
A deal sheet had been submitted.
And, according to Monaco’s CEO, both clubs had signed their respective contracts.
Yet the player ultimately decided that he was not comfortable committing his long-term future to Everton, based on his experience with the club.
That leaves Everton facing the consequences of a remarkable deadline-day collapse – and raises an obvious question about exactly what happened during that medical that left Balogun sufficiently concerned to walk away.