Target: Carlos Baleba
United have already spent more than £200million on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to transform their forward line, and now Ruben Amorim wants to bolster his midfield.
Amid ongoing concerns over Casemiro's declining powers and the inconsistent performances of Manuel Ugarte, United have turned to 21-year-old Baleba as the answer to revitalise their midfield.
It has been reported that a first bid for Baleba has been rejected, in which United tried to include Toby Collyer in part-exchange. Brighton have little interest in selling and have put a £105million price tag on the player's head.
United are not giving up, though. Journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that new talks are expected between the two clubs over the coming days and, crucially, Baleba wants to make the move.
It remains to be seen if Brighton's stance will relax in light of the player's wish.
Asked if he fears losing key players to bigger clubs this summer, Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler told BBC Sport's Monday Night Club podcast: "No chance. I don't feel fear.
"I'm not afraid of anything because the only thing we can do is be the best version we can be every day, like work as hard as we can. All the other things we can't influence, so we really have to focus on us.
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"For sure, we can't spend the money like the big teams but one of our biggest values is togetherness. And if you stay together, if we try to push our limits and increase the boundaries, then I'm sure we can compete with the big teams."