Everton got Folarin Balogun through the door at Finch Farm, put him through a medical, renegotiated the fee, and signed a deal sheet before the 23:00 BST deadline. Then the striker changed his mind and walked.
The 25-year-old is still an AS Monaco player. It is one of the strangest collapses of the window, because by the time it fell apart almost every box had been ticked.
What actually happened at Finch Farm
Everton had agreed an initial £40m with Monaco. The medical turned up issues, so the two clubs went back to the table and reworked the numbers.
Both clubs and the player signed a deal sheet before the window shut, which is normally the point of no return. Balogun then had a change of heart and pulled out.
He had only become a target late in the day. Everton's plans shifted once Beto completed a permanent move to Fiorentina, leaving David Moyes light up front.
The strikers Everton could not land
Balogun was not the only name. Everton looked at Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee and Aston Villa's Tammy Abraham, and neither could be persuaded to come.
So the window ends with the Toffees short of a centre-forward, and Moyes will have to make do until January.
Balogun's route to this point
He left Arsenal for Monaco in 2023 after a loan spell in France with Reims that established him as a genuine goalscorer. The United States international has since made himself a fixture in the USMNT squad.
Whatever the medical flagged, and whatever changed his mind in the final minutes, he stays in Ligue 1 for at least another four months.
Everton's other deadline day business
Ainsley Maitland-Niles arrived from Lyon. The 29-year-old former Arsenal player has five England caps and covers both full-back and midfield, which suits a squad that is short in several places at once.
Going the other way, Scotland right-back Nathan Patterson joined Torino permanently. He arrived from Rangers in January 2022 and made 68 appearances across all competitions without ever nailing down the position.
Everton finish the window with a reshaped squad and an unfilled hole at the top of it. Balogun's late reversal is the one they will keep thinking about.
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