A move that was done, then pulled apart
Thiago Scuro faced the media on Wednesday. Monaco’s sporting director went back over the deals that collapsed at the end of the window, starting with Erik Lira.
The Cruz Azul midfielder was set for the Principality. Everything was lined up. “The transfer was done. The player was ready to travel,” Scuro said. And yet the move never got over the line.
The reason was administrative. The agreement between the two clubs depended on Folarin Balogun freeing up a non-EU foreign player slot. The American striker’s move to Everton fell through at the last hurdle. Without that slot, Monaco could not register Lira.
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One failed sale, and the whole window wobbles
Balogun’s failed sale did more than block a paperwork issue. It also cost Monaco the transfer fee, and with it the chance to reinvest. Several other leads suffered as a result, including the one for Fares Ghedjemis.
It’s the usual story in a market where departures pay for arrivals. When the first domino stays upright, the rest just sit there. Monaco saw it happen in real time on Monday night.
Scuro didn’t try to dress it up. “We were very disappointed yesterday as well,” he admitted, before thanking Cruz Azul for the way they handled the situation.
January is not ruled out, but nobody is promising anything
The sporting director has left the door open for winter, without committing to it. “We are not in a position to ask him to wait,” he said of Lira, while insisting the club still rates the player highly.
Monaco also completed Thilo Kehrer’s loan to Ajax on Wednesday morning. Lamine Camara is back in training too, his move to Chelsea having fallen apart.
So the window shuts with a pile of loose ends, and a squad that looks a lot like the one Monaco had in August.
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