Monaco have revealed why Folarin Balogun’s late move to Everton broke down.
Balogun was in line for a deadline day move to Hill Dickinson Stadium with a £40 million package before Tuesday’s deadline before concerns arose in his medical.
A knee problem picked up during the United States intenrational’s screening is understood to have been at the heart of the issue for David Moyes’ side.
The Blues were able to restructure the proposed transfer with a deal sheet submitted to the Premier League but Balogun left Merseyside soon after.
Monaco’s CEO Thiago Scuro has now lifted the lid on what transpired in the intervening hours while his club also negotiated with Chelsea for Lamine Camara.
He said: “Balogun was in Liverpool going through his medical.
“Around 7pm, we had a call from Everton raising questions on the medicals which for our medical staff, the personnel staff of the player, made totally no sense.
“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.
“[They thought] ‘Monaco needs money, Balogun is strugglng there, let’s go, let’s try.’ On this moment, we had to open the door for the discussion, we started conversations for Camara.
“I informed the player directly, I informed his agent, we had discussions for the conditions for Camara to go to Chelsea. Meanwhile, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balogun.
“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 Camara.
“It’s fair to do this, it’s part of the game. This was done five minutes before the close of the transfer window for us to finish paperwork between Balogun and Everton.
“I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, at the last moment the player decided not to sign.”