Monaco Confirms Balogun Will Leave in January After Everton Move Collapses

AS Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has confirmed the club intends to move on from USMNT forward Folarin Balogun during the January transfer window. The confirmation follows a chaotic summer deadline day that saw a proposed switch to the Premier League collapse at the final hour, leaving Monaco with a glut of attacking options and financial targets still unmet.

Financial Pressure and the DNCG Mandate

Putting Balogun up for sale isn’t a tactical call alone. It’s a financial necessity for the Principality club. Monaco made specific commitments to the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, tied to player sales required to balance the books. Failing to offload the 25-year-old striker over the summer left the club exposed heading into the winter market. Balogun joined Monaco from Arsenal off a prolific loan spell at Reims, but hasn’t reproduced that scoring form in Ligue 1.

Speaking to RMC Sport on Rothen S’enflamme, Scuro laid out the club’s approach for the mid-season window with blunt honesty.

“The original plan is to find a solution for Balogun. If we find that, it will give Monaco the opportunity to keep Lamine [Camara] and [Aleksandr] Golovin until the end of the season. That is the ideal plan, but we can’t control the decisions and what will happen in the winter.”

The Failed Everton Deadline Day Drama

Balogun’s current predicament traces directly back to a failed deadline day move in August. The striker came close to a return to England, travelling to Liverpool for a medical with Everton. The deal fell apart in the closing hours of the window, disrupting Monaco’s entire transfer strategy. Scuro says the USMNT international grew uncomfortable proceeding after Everton’s medical staff flagged concerns over his fitness levels.

“We had an agreement with Balogun. What happened with him changes our plans for this winter a bit. But that was the original plan: to find a solution for Balogun. After that, we don’t have control over all the decisions (to come) this winter.”

Squad Imbalance and Recruitment Failures

Beyond the financial strain, keeping Balogun has created a sporting headache for the coaching staff. Monaco’s failure to sell the striker meant they couldn’t reinvest elsewhere, producing what manager Filipe Luís called a clear tactical deficit. He’s pointed to a squad overloaded with central strikers but short on natural width.

Scuro hasn’t hidden his frustration over how the summer window was handled.

“I am not happy with everything that we did during the summer and it wasn’t possible to execute our plan 100%. To be honest, no, I am not satisfied with our summer transfer window. If we had different timings to offload players, maybe we would have had a bit more time to sign others.”

January Corrections and Future Outlook

With the winter window approaching, Monaco are focused on the corrections Scuro referenced to fix summer’s errors. Finding a permanent home for Balogun remains the priority, with the forward yet to recapture the goal-scoring form that made him such a threat before his move to the Principality. A January transfer would give the player a fresh start; he needs regular football to hold his place in the USMNT setup. It would also free Monaco to finally pursue the right-winger and defensive midfielder their squad clearly lacks.

Stick with TipsGG for the latest updates on Monaco’s winter business and where Balogun lands next.