Brighton star Carlos Baleba appeared to reference his failed move to Manchester United in a deleted social media post on Saturday.
The highly-rated midfielder took to Instagram hours before the Seagulls' trip to Old Trafford and shared a graphic promoting the fixture.
Baleba was at the centre of a summer transfer saga
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Baleba was at the centre of a summer transfer sagaCredit: Getty
His caption read: 'Coming to Old Trafford' - and was accompanied by a laughing face emoji.
Baleba deleted the post within minutes and reposted it without the caption, but not before screenshots of the original message circulated on social media.
The 21-year-old was heavily-linked with a move to the Red Devils during the summer transfer window.
Man United registered their interest in Baleba but backed down once Brighton demanded £115million.
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talkSPORT understands the Seagulls expect the Cameroonian to fetch a bigger fee than the club-record £115m Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo when they eventually decide to sell.
That was after an exceptional 2024/25 season, but then Baleba made a noticeably slow start to the current campaign.
He has been substituted before the second-half multiple times and manager Fabian Hurzeler even admitted the transfer speculation had turned Baleba's head.
"For sure, when a young boy reads there is interest from Manchester United with a big, big offer, it might affect him deep, deep down,” the Brighton manager said in September.
“That’s also part of the development to understand that when you play well, there comes a big offer, there comes a big club who wants to have him.
“But then to keep pushing, to be humble, stay here in Brighton, and try to make the next step with the team and that’s something we have to keep on working with him.
Hurzeler has been forced to address Baleba's poor form this season on numerous occasions
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Hurzeler has been forced to address Baleba's poor form this season on numerous occasionsCredit: Getty
“I can’t give you a clear answer if it’s really affected him or not. But for sure, he’s a young boy and we need to understand he’s not a machine that if you click on then he always runs and off then he stops.
“We need to understand his feelings, his emotions, where he comes from, and that’s our responsibility."
Baleba returned to form during the 2-1 win over Newcastle last weekend.
"I saw a Carlos Baleba who stepped up," Hurzeler said before the Man United clash.
"These were good actions and good behaviours he showed, but he has to make habits out of those good behaviours.
"That's the next step in his development, to bring consistency to his performance."