Folarin Balogun pulled the plug on his on again, off again transfer to Everton because he did not feel comfortable signing for a club who had questioned his medical status, Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro claimed on Wednesday.
Balogun seemed set to finalise a switch to the Premier League club after the English transfer window closed on Tuesday night, both clubs having renegotiated terms, which are believed to have included more incentives based around appearances, after Everton had conducted a medical on the USMNT international. However with both clubs having signed off on the move, the player himself pulled out of the transfer, leaving Everton short the replacement striker they needed and Monaco short of the cash injection they require.
Earlier in the day, Balogun had arrived at Everton's Finch Farm training ground to finalise a $52 million switch. However, the prospective buyers felt that the medical had raised issues that required the renegotiation of terms.
"At 4 p.m [French time, 10 a.m. ET], Balogun was in Liverpool undergoing his medical," said Scuro in a press conference. "Everything was going pretty well. Around 7 p.m., we were contacted by Everton, raising questions about Balogun's medical, which, for our medical staff, as well as for the player's personal medical staff, made no sense at all.
"The explanations were not enough to justify or to bring concerns regarding the future of the player, which there aren't. This discussion started between medical departments from here and there. It took Everton around two to three hours to go deep into the assessment and check with other doctors. This is a normal situation when the doctor of the club raises concerns. It's quite normal that clubs will look for other specialists, share the images and discuss the case."
With the sale of Balogun in doubt, Monaco made separate arrangements to sell midfielder Lamine Camara to Chelsea. However, they would eventually pull the plug on that when Everton returned to finalize an agreement for the striker.
"I signed the contract," said Scuro. "Everton signed the contract. At the last moment, the player decided not to sign. And basically, Balogun's allegation is that I'm not feeling well because of the way the club treated me. I'm not feeling well because Everton's medical department raised doubts about my future or my health. I have nothing [no fitness or health issues], so I'm not comfortable signing a long contract here. And that's the way we finish our transfer window."
Failing to sell both Camara and Balogun leaves a significant hole in Monaco's finances in a season where they will not have Champions League revenues and are under pressure with French regulator the DNCG. There remain potential avenues for sales in Turkey, whose window closes on Friday, and Saudi Arabia, where clubs can sign players right the way through to October 12. MLS closes its window on September 2.
"We are still waiting for Balo to come back for us, to sit and discuss and to realize between us what's next," said Scuro, who also kept the door open for the 25-year-old being reintegrated into Felipe Luis' squad. "We still have other markets open, which we are having discussions about with 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.
"Today, he is a Monaco player. There is a chance that he stays. On Everton, I was not there. We have to respect his decision. We tried to do the work on the club side. We found solutions.
"The reality is that when Balo mentioned to us this feeling, that he was not comfortable, he didn't want to sign. We didn't see ourselves in a position to push him. We had to respect [his decision]."
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