On first glance, Folarin Balogun trading out AS Monaco for Everton does not feel like the most compelling move for the USMNT striker. Even if you park for a moment the prospect of leaving behind grands prix and casinos for the Liver Building and Stanley Park -- your mileage may vary on whether this is an upgrade or downgrade -- this is a player leaving a side who have been playing Champions League football more often than not to join a team who have not played a European game since 2018. Balogun, whose 19 goals in all competitions had him named Monaco's player of the season for 2025-26, was among the brightest stars at the World Cup this summer.
The three goals he scored, the strength of his hold up play, it screamed of a player ready to test himself at the highest level. That is what he will be doing. While of course the Champions League, for which Monaco have not qualified, represents the absolute pinnacle of football in its final knockings, over 38 games and change there is no better place for Balogun to find his level than in the Premier League, even if his new side is not the starriest.
Suppose Balogun had gone to Fiorentina, where he was frequently linked as his contract ran down. According to Opta's power rankings, he would have come up against three teams ranked among the 30 best in the world: Inter, Roma and Juventus. Club ELO is more generous at six, but that is only because the lower reaches of their charts are padded out by the Milans and Atalantas of this world.
It would be a similar story in Germany or Spain, albeit this time with one or two of the very best teams in the world. Neither rating system is particularly convinced that any team from the aforementioned leagues, bar a half dozen, is convincingly better than the Everton side that Balogun, who three summers ago left Arsenal as a 22-year-old intent on regular minutes, is landing at. There are plenty of other sides in the league who might be, and more than enough that on a weekly basis the 25-year-old will be questioned in a way that no other league can.
Opta ranks 14 of England's top flight among the best 30 teams in the game, nine of them in the top 15. The fundamental reality of football in 2026 is that the Super League was not averted, it just became the Premier League. That's what broadcast revenue does for you.
If power rankings aren't your thing, well your skepticism might be well be addressed in May and June. The lower tier European competitions have become the purview of the lower tier Premier League clubs, the last two Europa League trophies coming back to England and three of the five Conference League crowns. Those have been lifted by teams who finished 14th, fourth and 15th.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
