United States men’s national team star Folarin Balogun is not headed to Premier League side Everton after a deal fell apart at the final hour, according to multiple reports.
The crux of the issue was that Everton renegotiated the original deal after issues popped up with the striker’s medical evaluation, The Athletic reported.
The Premier League club then submitted a dealsheet in order to get a two-hour grace period to work out the deal past the league’s 6 p.m. ET transfer window deadline.
But the American opted instead to back out of the deal altogether, leaving Everton hanging in the end.
Reports of the deal first surfaced earlier in the day and The Athletic reported it was worth $52.3 million along with another $5.8 million in add-ons.
The outlet also reported that sources with Everton put the deal in the $54 million range.
The dramatic turn of events is just the latest for Balogun this summer after he became a household name during the World Cup and then found himself in the middle of controversy when he was given a questionable red card that was later rescinded by FIFA after President Donald Trump spoke with FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
The episode created a firestorm, which in the end didn’t help the USMNT, and they were eliminated in the Round of 16 for the second straight World Cup.
Balogun scored three goals for the United States during the World Cup and was by far one of their best players.
In an interview with CBS following the Americans’ elimination, Balogun acknowledged that the red card controversy had made things “difficult.”
“But when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was gonna cause a lot of controversy, and I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it’s something that’s so unique,” he said.
