Everton's Balogun chase dies in the final hour

'Set to complete'

Things started well enough. Fabrizio Romano flagged Everton's move for Folarin Balogun as one of three deadline day pieces of business the club were closing in on, with the Monaco forward described as 'set to complete' his switch to Merseyside. For a few hours, this read like a genuine coup: a proven Premier League and Ligue 1 goalscorer walking into an Everton front line that has spent recent windows short of exactly that kind of ready-made finisher.

Off, then somehow on again

It did not stay simple. Reports then had the deal collapsing, only for it to be revived with what was described as minutes to spare before the window shut, a twist that also reportedly had knock-on effects for Chelsea's own interest in Balogun. Romano's update on Everton's afternoon touched on more than one deal in motion, with Richarlison also mentioned as part of the club's frantic final hours. Balogun to Everton was, at various points inside that stretch, back on, off, and back on again.

Romano called it 'set to complete', then reported it collapsing, then had it 'back on with minutes to spare', then reported it collapsing once more, all inside the same afternoon.

Dead on arrival, after the buzzer

The final word came after the deadline had actually passed: the move for Balogun had fallen through. No reason for the late breakdown has been detailed, and Everton did not get their man despite appearing, at multiple points during the day, to have him. Chelsea's parallel interest means Balogun's situation is not fully closed just because one Premier League door shut, but for Everton specifically, the business is over until January.

What Everton are left with

For a club that spent the day being told it had solved its centre-forward problem, ending the window without Balogun is a blunt outcome. Everton's attack goes into September with whatever it had before deadline day plus a lot of screenshots of headlines that no longer apply. The version of the story fans will remember is not the deal, it is the four separate versions of the deal they were told was happening inside a single afternoon.