Folarin Balogun was arguably the biggest story of the summer transfer deadline day 2026, after his failed move to Everton.

Everton went into the final day of player trading needing a new centre forward, with Beto being sold to Fiorentina. That move had been on the cards for days, and was finalised on deadline day.

Everton then went for Balogun, with a fee being agreed with AS Monaco. But as we all saw, the striker had a change of heart at the last moment.

This was because Everton had expressed reservations about his condition at the medical stage. The CEO of Monaco stated that the Toffees’ concerns ‘made no sense at all’.

So Balogun went back to Monaco and is still there. But speculation has persisted about his future, and it seems it’s not out of the question he could sign for Everton.

TEAMtalk report that interest is already mounting in Balogun ahead of the January transfer window.

The USMNT international’s situation is said to have ‘deteriorated’ this season, and he has been left out of the French side’s Europa League squad. And he has only played four times for Monaco in the league, coming off the bench.

But Balogun remains coveted, and TEAMtalk are reporting that Manchester United are now considering him as a January signing.

But interestingly, the report also says that Everton have been spoken to regarding Balogun and a possible move. Furthermore, Leeds United, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest have also been made aware of his availability.

It was also reported earlier this week that Juventus were showing interest in Balogun.

His exit is being worked on by the superagent Jorge Mendes, who previously helped Everton to sign James Rodriguez from Real Madrid.

Why Everton must look elsewhere

From the language used in the report, it doesn’t sound too likely at the moment that Everton are actually interested in reigniting a move for Balogun.

And given what happened at the end of the last transfer window, the club might just be better off looking at alternatives.

Balogun was clearly not comfortable signing for Everton and felt compelled to walk away. When a player does that, it doesn’t feel especially wise to move for them in the very next window.

Plus, there is the fact that he hasn’t even played much football, and Everton could do with someone who is going to hit the ground running.

Journalist Greg O’Keefe recently also suggested that Balogun wouldn’t necessarily have stayed at Everton long-term, and that he had been hoping to join a club playing in a European competition. So perhaps ultimately it was never the smartest move anyway.