Folarin Balogun Had Every Right To Blow Up The Transfer Deadline

This turned out to be quite an eventful summer for Monaco and USMNT striker Folarin Balogun. After the red card-that-wasn't at the World Cup, Balogun has now become the main character in a perfect transfer saga for this deeply unserious transfer window. The 25-year-old's move to Everton seemed secure late into the dying hours of the transfer window on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, Balogun remains a player for AS Monaco, and along the way completely bricked three different teams' plans for the upcoming season. The whole saga is puzzling, rather funny, and a perfect example of why soccer gets just one thing right about its player movement system. OK, so what happened? Let's start with Everton. The Toffees were looking relatively settled as the transfer deadline approached, but the sudden departures of star winger Iliman Ndiaye and striker Beto meant they needed to bring in some attacking reinforcements. Balogun was a good target here; he's young, talented, and played exceedingly well at the World Cup, red card saga be damned. That's a great recipe for a move, and so Everton reached a deal with Monaco for around €47 million. So far, so good. But the problems started with Balogun's medical. Normally, medicals are a formality; most injuries are widely documented, and teams know roughly what they are in for when they agree to purchase a player. However, Everton's medical team flagged some issues with Balogun's fitness, which seemingly scuttled the move. Everton swiftly pivoted to try to loan Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee, whose 2024 move to Old Trafford didn't really amount to anything last season. United, however, did not want to let Zirkzee go, which left Everton in a tricky situation with only hours to go in the window. The Toffees then decided to go back to Monaco and try to arrange a new deal for Balogun.

Read it at Defector ↗

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