AS Monaco’s general manager Thiago Scuro fronted the press at La Turbie on Wednesday, September 2, to give his account of the previous day’s frantic transfer deadline, one that saw both Folarin Balogun’s move to Everton and Lamine Camara’s move to Chelsea ultimately fall through, despite the club believing both deals were close to being finalised.
Scuro explained that Monaco had entered deadline day needing to generate funds due to financial regulations, with two names under consideration for a sale: Balogun or Camara. He said the club’s clear priority throughout had been to keep Camara, remaining open instead to selling Balogun. During the day, Monaco believed it had a firm agreement in place to send Balogun to Everton, with the striker having travelled that morning for a medical and to sign his contract, a plan Scuro said was progressing smoothly.
That picture held until Tuesday evening, according to Scuro, when Everton contacted the club around 7pm with questions regarding Balogun’s medical, questions Scuro suggested introduced unexpected uncertainty into a deal the club had believed was essentially done. With Chelsea having renewed their interest in Camara later that afternoon, Monaco reopened talks over the Senegalese midfielder as a contingency. Then, around 10pm local time, Everton indicated the medical issue had been resolved and the club was ready to proceed with Balogun’s signing.
Believing the Balogun deal was now finalised, Monaco immediately ended its renewed discussions with Chelsea over Camara. Balogun, however, ultimately declined to sign his contract with Everton, leaving Monaco without either departure and Camara recalled from a move he had been given permission to explore.