AS Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has confirmed that their primary plan for the January transfer window is to sell Folarin Balogun, allowing them to hold onto their other in-demand players.
Folarin Balogun was on the verge of joining Everton in the summer transfer window, but the move ended up breaking down, and the former Arsenal striker will now stay with AS Monaco for at least the first half of the 2026/27 campaign.
Big transfers breaking down can often lead to a revival in a player’s career at their existing club. Granit Xhaka arguably had his best Arsenal spell following his failed move to Hertha BSC in January 2020, spending another three-and-a-half years in north London.
But it seems Monaco aren’t expecting the same to happen with Balogun, with club CEO Thiago Scuro admitting they’ll try and sell him in January.
“The original plan is to find a solution for Balogun,” Scuro said (via GFFN). “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.”
Camara was heavily linked with Chelsea over the summer, and likely would have joined the Blues if not for the confusion surrounding Balogun’s Everton transfer.
As for Golovin, he was linked with a return to Russia. But Monaco would evidently prefer to keep both players if possible.
Balogun was left off Monaco’s squad list for the 2026/27 Europa Conference League’s League Phase, and it’s unclear whether that was related to his recent fitness issue or a potential transfer exit.
Arsenal would probably welcome a Balogun transfer, as the Gunners have a 17.5% sell-on clause in his deal.
That clause would have paid out in a big way if the striker had joined Everton for €50m over the summer, and it remains to be seen whether Monaco receive any bids on that same level in January.
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