Everton's Deadline Day Disappointments: Balogun Deal Falls Through

David Moyes wore the look of a man who had spent deadline day chasing shadows.

Everton’s manager admitted he will “have to live with disappointments” after a frantic final 24 hours of the transfer window delivered more frustration than reinforcement at Finch Farm.

Balogun deal collapses late

The biggest blow came with Folarin Balogun. Everton thought they had their man. A £40m fee was agreed with Monaco, the United States striker completed his medical at the training ground, and both clubs even signed a deal sheet before the 23:00 BST deadline to buy extra time.

Then it all fell apart.

Issues flagged during the medical forced Everton and Monaco back to the table to renegotiate the structure of the transfer. As talks dragged, the 25-year-old changed his mind and walked away from the move.

“It wasn't anyone's fault and ultimately it happens in football as the player had a problem in his medical and that was simply it,” Moyes said. “There are no other stories behind it. That is exactly what happened.”

Everton were left without the striker they had pivoted to after Beto’s departure, and with precious little time to find an alternative.

Beto out, targets say no

The Balogun pursuit only opened up after Beto left for Fiorentina on a permanent deal, the Guinea-Bissau forward heading back to Serie A and creating both a gap in Moyes’ squad and a need for fresh firepower.

Everton moved quickly. They sounded out Joshua Zirkzee at Manchester United. They went for Tammy Abraham at Aston Villa. Neither forward could be convinced to swap their current surroundings for Goodison Park.

The pressure to land a new attacker grew. The window closed anyway.

“I am disappointed that we didn't do more business and things didn't go our way in the end,” Moyes admitted. “Sometimes in football you have to live with disappointments and move on, and we will.”

Grealish in, Ndiaye out

There was at least one eye-catching arrival. Jack Grealish joined on a season-long loan from Manchester City, a move that gives Moyes a high-class creator in the final third.

But the price of that flexibility in the market was painful. Star forward Iliman Ndiaye left for City in a £65m deal, stripping Everton of one of their most influential attackers. The Senegal international produced 15 goals and four assists in 67 Premier League appearances for the club and had become a central figure in their attacking play.

Moyes did not hide his reluctance to see him go.

“We were looking to get some money in,” he said. “We lost Iliman Ndiaye, which is someone who we definitely didn't want to lose, but sometimes it is difficult when the likes of Man City come along.”

The message was clear: Everton needed sales to fund signings, and the biggest offer came for a player they would rather have kept.

Defensive plans hit and miss

At the other end of the pitch, the pattern repeated: one step forward, one blocked.

Everton pushed to bring in Kenny Tete from Fulham, identifying the Dutch defender as a solution at the back. Fulham, though, could not secure a replacement in time and refused to let him go. Another target off the board.

They did manage to land a right-back. Ainsley Maitland-Niles arrived from Lyon in a £3m deal, adding versatility and Premier League experience, but not quite the defensive overhaul Moyes had envisaged.

“Some things went against us and some things we could have done better,” the Everton manager reflected. “Ultimately we didn't want to lose a lot of the different players but for reasons that had to happen.”

So Everton emerge from deadline day with Grealish and Maitland-Niles in, Ndiaye and Beto out, and the ghost of Balogun lingering over what might have been. The window is shut now. The squad is set. The question is whether Moyes has enough to turn disappointment into a season that still points upwards.