Everton’s Folarin Balogun Transfer Collapses After Striker Rejects Move

Everton’s proposed move for United States striker Folarin Balogun has collapsed after the 25-year-old decided against joining the Premier League club.

According to The Athletic, Everton had renegotiated a deal with Monaco for Balogun after concerns emerged during the striker’s medical, but the player ultimately chose not to proceed with the transfer.

Everton had submitted a dealsheet to the Premier League on Tuesday night, giving the club an additional two-hour grace period to complete the deal after the 11pm BST deadline. However, Balogun left the club’s Finch Farm training ground without signing a contract.

Everton had initially reached an agreement with Monaco for Balogun on Monday, but doubts about whether the transfer would be completed increased as deadline day progressed.

The Merseyside club subsequently attempted to sign Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee, but the approach was rejected, with United believing they did not have sufficient time to secure a replacement.

Everton and Monaco continued negotiations over Balogun, with the English club seeking to restructure the agreement around a lower guaranteed fee and higher potential bonuses.

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Sources at Monaco, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, had previously indicated that the initial agreement involved a €45 million (£38.58m; $52.3m) upfront payment, plus €5 million (£4.3m; $5.8m) in potential add-ons.

Everton sources, however, had valued the overall deal at around £40 million ($54m; €46.7m).

Everton had been seeking attacking reinforcements following the departure of striker Beto to Fiorentina and winger Iliman Ndiaye to Manchester City.

The club had already strengthened its squad by signing Tyrique George permanently from Chelsea and bringing Jack Grealish back on loan from Manchester City on deadline day.

Balogun attracted significant attention during this summer’s World Cup, where his red-card suspension was controversially overturned by FIFA following an intervention involving United States President Donald Trump.

The incident overshadowed an impressive tournament for the American striker, who scored twice in the United States’ opening victory over Paraguay before scoring again in their last-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina prior to his dismissal.

Balogun enjoyed his most productive season since joining Monaco from Arsenal in 2023, scoring 19 goals and providing five assists in 43 appearances during the 2025-26 campaign.

Arsenal retained a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause when Balogun left the club.

The striker came through Arsenal’s academy and made 10 first-team appearances before departing the north London club.

He established himself during a loan spell at Ligue 1 side Reims in the 2022-23 season, scoring 22 goals in 39 appearances before completing his move to Monaco.