Monaco’s position on Folarin Balogun has now been made clear, and it leaves Everton, Arsenal and the wider market with a fresh situation to monitor ahead of January. According to Standard, Monaco are actively planning to move the striker on in the winter window, a development that could hand Arsenal a useful financial boost through the sell-on clause agreed when he left north London.
Balogun had looked set for a Premier League return in the summer after Everton agreed a £40 million deal with Monaco. That transfer, however, fell apart late on Deadline Day, with concerns emerging around how the process had been handled. The report states that Balogun felt uneasy amid Everton’s parallel interest in Joshua Zirkzee, and Monaco chief Thiago Scuro later laid out the player’s frustrations in blunt terms.
Scuro said: “Balogun’s allegation is that I’m not feeling well because of the way the club treated me,” before adding, “I’m not feeling well because Everton’s medical department brought doubts about my future or my health.” He then continued: “I have nothing (no medical problem), so I’m not comfortable to sign a long contract here.”
Monaco transfer strategy comes into focus
There is another layer to this. Balogun has yet to feature for Monaco this season because of a knee injury, although a return against Lens has been left open. Even so, the club’s broader plan appears settled. Scuro told RMC Sport: “The original plan is to find a solution for Balogun. If we find that, it will give Monaco the opportunity to keep Lamine and Golovin until the end of the season.” He added: “That is the ideal plan, but we can’t control the decisions and what will happen in the winter.”
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For Arsenal, the key detail is financial. There is no buy-back clause in the original €40 million, £34.2 million, sale, but there is a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause. Any January departure would therefore generate a windfall for Mikel Arteta’s side…
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