Monaco make final Folarin Balogun decision after Everton fiasco

9 Sept 2026 21:02 BST |
4 min read

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AS Monaco have made a definitive decision on the immediate future of Folarin Balogun following his collapsed transfer to Everton.

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Last week, the American striker U-turned on a last-minute move to Merseyside, plunging three different clubs into crisis in the process. With no time remaining in the transfer window, Everton were left to play out the first half of the season with just one senior centre-forward.

Monaco, meanwhile, missed out on a much-needed windfall of around €50 million and failed to free up a non-EU spot, which would have permitted them to sign Cruz Azul captain Erik Lira.

Finally, the events of last Tuesday also influenced Chelsea. When Everton initially raised concerns over Balogun’s fitness, Monaco panicked and agreed to sell Lamine Camara to the Blues, only to renege on this agreement when the Toffees renegotiated for the USMNT star.

After the deal was restructured, Balogun had second thoughts and pulled the plug on the transfer. He could still have left Monaco in the subsequent days, but nothing materialised, and most transfer windows are now closed.

Balogun to stay and play for Monaco

According to L’Equipe, the matter has now officially been put to bed. Balogun will stay at Monaco at least until January, and he will actually play, at least in Ligue 1.

He is not eligible to feature in the Conference League as he was omitted from Monaco’s squad, but he can play in domestic competitions. In fact, he could return to the squad as early as next week.

Balogun has yet to make an appearance under new Monaco coach Filipe Luis, who has revealed that the striker played through knee pain at the World Cup, which explains Everton’s doubts over his fitness.

The 25-year-old returned to team training last week. He won’t be fit enough to make the squad against Strasbourg this weekend, but he could be back in action against Coupe de France holders RC Lens a week later.

This will be Monaco’s final game before the first international break of the season, and it remains to be seen if Balogun will be involved with the USMNT. Coach Mauricio Pochettino addressed the awkward situation during a media roundtable on Monday.

“It’s difficult because you cannot influence the decision, and you need to support what they are doing with the people making the decisions. Of course, in some special case, [like] Flo, I will call in the next few days because I want to give a little bit of space after all that happened with his situation at Everton.

“I want to know from him what happened, but always offering our support and be with them and that’s it. I think he’s an important player for us, was an important player in the World Cup and hope that he can find – being in Monaco, in another place – his best place to perform in the best way.”

With Balogun set to stay, Monaco need to find a different way of resolving their financial difficulties. L’Equipe has confirmed that the principality club may have to sacrifice their longest-serving player, Aleksandr Golovin, to do so.

The midfielder, who has been with Monaco since 2018 and starred against PSG last Friday, is in talks with Spartak Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg in his native Russia, where the transfer window remains open until Thursday.

As for Balogun, he can now focus on his football, although his future will remain a topic of conversation. His contract at Monaco expires in 2028, making a sale next year pretty much inevitable.