'The way Everton treated me' - AS Monaco director reveals real reason why Folarin Balogun's move collapsed

AS Monaco's sporting director has lifted the lid on why Folarin Balogun's move to Everton collapsed at the death in a dramatic deadline day.

Everton were desperate to bring in a striker on the final day of the window and allowed Beto to return to Italy in a £17million switch to Fiorentina.

They enquired about loan moves for both Joshua Zirkzee and Tammy Abraham but neither bared fruit.

However, United States international Balogun was in the building and looked set to sign in a move reported to be around £40million.

It was claimed that Everton spotted issues in the 25-year-old's medical and slowed down the movement of the deal.

A deal sheet was submitted and even with the hold-up, the transfer was poised to be completed.

That was until Balogun had a change of heart and after Everton and Monaco both signed the contract, the former Arsenal striker decided against signing at the death.

All this happened amidst Chelsea trying to sign midfielder Lamine Camara for £47million, with the Blues considering the Ligue One club's actions "deeply unprofessional" after a mooted move fell through.

Both Balogun and Camara stayed at the Principality club beyond the deadline. On Wednesday morning, Thiago Scuro, who handles Monaco's transfers, spoke in a press conference and gave an explanation for what happened regarding both deals collapsing.

He claimed that Balogun was not comfortable signing on the dotted line because of the treatment.

Scuro said: "The allegation of Balogun is that, 'I'm not feeling well by the way the club treated me, the way the medical team brought doubts about my future or my health. I'm not comfortable to sign a long contract here'. That the way we finished the transfer window here."

He continued: "During the day (transfer deadline day), we had a clear agreement for Balogun to go to Everton, Balogun flew to Everton to undergo a medical. Our plan worked very well in this moment in terms of generation of revenue, players transfer. Balo going, besides the salary, an important income to help balance the season and Lamine staying.

"What happened in the afternoon, Chelsea was always testing and trying for Lamine, I was in contact for the last 10 days. Around 4pm, we got a call from Chelsea, 'Okay, we sold a player in this position, is there any possibility that Monaco would sell Lamine (Camara)'. The answer was the same. No.

"Balo was in Liverpool going through his medical, around 7pm, we had a call from Everton raising questions on the medicals of Balo, which for our medical staff, the personnel staff of the player, made totally no sense.

"The explanations were not enough to justify or bring concerns for the future of the player, this discussion started for medical departments, it took Everton two to three hours to check through the assessment, this is a normal situation.

"This was ongoing, meanwhile this was in the press quite quickly, it was already in the media that Balogun is failing the medical and of course, Chelsea saw the opportunity, 'Monaco needs money, Balo is strugglng there, let's go, let's try'. This is the game.

"On this moment, we had to open the door for the discussion, we started conversations for Lamine, I informed the player directly, I informed his agent, we had discussions for the conditions for Lamine to go to Chelsea. Meanwhile, the medical discussion was ongoing with Balo.

"Around 10pm, Everton realised there is no problem. As soon as we got the information, we came back to Chelsea that we have our deal there and there's no deal for Lamine. It's fair to do this, it's part of the game.

"I signed the contract, Everton signed the contract, at the last moment the player decided not to sign."

Everton offered former Man United star after Folarin Balogun move collapses

Scuro went on to state that Balogun is poised to return and discuss his situation with the club and could still move on this summer, with the transfer window in Turkey and Saudi Arabia still open.

However, the failure to sign a striker is a disaster for Everton as they have just one recognised frontman in Thierno Barry.

The club did sign a new right-back in Ainsley Maitland-Niles but only have 18 senior outfield players left.

In a new stunning turn of events, it has been reported that the Toffees have been offered former Manchester United star Anthony Martial.

Martial is said to be open to a return to the Premier League and intermediaries have approached a total of seven clubs to notify them of his availability.

The 30-year-old has been a free agent for three months after leaving Mexico side Monterrey.