He Signed the Contract. Then, With Five Minutes Left, He Wouldn't Sign It.

By ten o'clock on transfer deadline night, Folarin Balogun's move to Everton was basically finished. The medical had been resolved, the contract renegotiated, everyone had shaken hands on the numbers. Five minutes before the window closed, with the paperwork in front of him, he decided not to sign it.

That single decision unraveled deals at three clubs in two countries at once.

The chain reaction began earlier that day, when Manchester City signed Enzo Fernández away from Chelsea for £125m — a fee that equaled the British transfer record. Chelsea needed a like-for-like replacement fast, and they zeroed in on Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara.

Monaco didn't actually want to sell Camara. What they needed was money to satisfy financial fair play requirements, and they'd already identified an easier way to get it: selling striker Folarin Balogun to Everton for around £40m. If that deal went through, Camara could stay put.

Then Everton's medical team flagged something during Balogun's physical — evidence of an injury. Monaco and Balogun both disputed it, insisting he was fully fit. With the 11pm deadline bearing down, Everton pushed ahead anyway, but rewrote the deal: performance-based clauses that would reduce Monaco's guaranteed payment if the injury ended up limiting his playing time. Balogun's own personal terms didn't change.

Believing the Balogun deal was as good as done, Monaco went back to Chelsea and pulled the plug on Camara. Chelsea's replacement plan for Fernández was suddenly gone.

With minutes left on the clock, Balogun refused to sign. Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro later explained what had shifted: Balogun felt Everton had shown him he wasn't really wanted, after the club also chased a separate loan deal for Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee worth around £10m.

Monaco kept both players and raised none of the money it needed. Everton lost its striker target and, after already selling Beto to Fiorentina, was left with only Thierno Barry up front. Chelsea lost its Fernández replacement entirely — though the Fernández sale to Manchester City went through regardless, meaning Chelsea ended deadline day having sold their record-fee midfielder and signed no one to replace him.

Three clubs, one contract nobody signed, and a transfer window that closed on all of them at once.