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Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has revealed the extraordinary circumstances behind Folarin Balogun’s collapsed deadline day move to Everton, claiming the striker ultimately pulled the plug after being left uncomfortable by concerns raised during his medical. Balogun had flown to England on deadline day after Monaco reached an agreement with Everton, with the transfer initially appearing to be progressing without issue. “During the day, we had a clear agreement for Balogun to go to Everton. Balogun flew yesterday morning to go for medicals and sign a contract,” Scuro told reporters. “Around 7pm, we were contacted by Everton, raising questions about Balogun’s medical, which, for our medical staff, as well as for the player’s personal medical staff, made no sense at all. “The explanations were not enough to justify or to bring concerns regarding the future of the player, which there aren’t.” Scuro explained that discussions subsequently took place between the clubs’ medical departments, with Everton seeking further opinions over the concerns that had been raised. “It took Everton around 2-3 hours to go deep into the assessment and check with other doctors,” he said. “This is a normal situation when the doctor of the club raises concerns. It’s quite normal that clubs will look for other specialists, share the images and discuss the case.” Everton ultimately decided they were prepared to proceed with the transfer, leaving the deal seemingly on course to be completed before the deadline. “What happened was that around 10pm, in our time here, maybe a bit earlier, Everton realised that, OK, there is no problem,” Scuro said. “We are ready to do it. Let’s sign the contract.” With time running out, the clubs utilised a Premier League mechanism allowing additional time to complete the necessary paperwork. But despite both Monaco and Everton signing the agreement, Scuro revealed Balogun made the decision at the last moment not to complete the transfer. “The Premier League has a mechanism in which you can request one extra hour to finish the paperwork. This was done,” he said. “I signed the contract. Everton signed the contract. At the last moment, the player decided not to sign.” According to Scuro, Balogun had been left uncomfortable by the questions Everton’s medical department had raised over his health and was no longer prepared to commit his long-term future to the club. “And basically, Balogun’s allegation is that I’m not feeling well because of the way the club treated me,” Scuro said. “I’m not feeling well because Everton’s medical department raised doubts about my future or my health. “I have nothing, so I’m not comfortable signing a long contract here. “And that’s the way we finish our transfer window.” Scuro said Monaco respected the striker’s decision, having found a solution with Everton that would have allowed the transfer to proceed. “We have to respect his decision,” he said. “We tried to do the work on the club side. We found solutions. Even in slightly better conditions for the player and for Monaco in terms of payment flow.” However, once Balogun made clear he was uncomfortable proceeding with the move, Monaco decided against attempting to convince him otherwise. “The reality is that when ‘Balo’ mentioned to us this feeling that he was not comfortable, he didn’t want to sign,” Scuro said. “We didn’t see ourselves in a position to push him. We had to respect.” Balogun consequently remains a Monaco player, although Scuro confirmed the Ligue 1 club was continuing to explore its options while other transfer windows remained open.