Manchester United have made a decision on Carlos Baleba as Brighton ‘have to listen to offers’ for the midfielder, who will be their ‘next major sale’.
United have already signed Matheus Cunha (£62.5m), Bryan Mbeumo (£65m), Benjamin Sesko (£74m) and Diego Leon (£7m) this summer despite Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s insistence that they’re short on cash.
And reports suggest they still want to bring in a goalkeeper and central midfielder before the window closes on September 1.
Baleba is reportedly seen as the ‘perfect’ midfielder by Ruben Amorim and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano brought the latest on a potential deal for the Seagulls star on Tuesday with United looking to “understand the final official cost” before making a bid.
Romano said on GiveMeSport: “They would also like to know the actual cost because with Brighton, it’s never easy to negotiate, and they are very good at negotiations.
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“So in this context, they are having with the agents of the player, they are waiting to understand how much it will cost, because the rumour in the industry is something around £120million.
“But at the moment, Manchester United are still waiting to understand the final official cost for Baleba – to understand when and how to try to make a bid, and to try to approach Brighton for Baleba.
“For sure, the player is keen on the move, and the player is not closing doors to Manchester United even without European football. Baleba is keen on joining Manchester United, and now it will depend on the two clubs. My understanding is that Manchester United want to try.”
Italian journalist Nicola Schira revealed earlier this week that Man Utd have already struck ‘an agreement in principle’ with the Brighton midfielder.
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Schira wrote on X: ‘#ManchesterUnited consider Carlos #Baleba as a main target and are ready to push to sign him. #MUFC are set to submit the first official bid to #Brighton as revealed today. Baleba has an agreement in principle with #mutd for a contract until 2030 + option for 2031. #transfers’
Now The Telegraph claim that although Baleba ‘is the midfielder that United’s Ineos hierarchy would wish to sign’, Brighton’s valuation of ‘more than £100m’ means the deal is a non-starter.
Brighton, ‘as a trading club would have to listen to offers at the kind of level that would get close to the club record £115m fee Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo’ and are aware that Baleba will be ‘the next major sale’, but he is ‘priced above what United would be prepared to pay this summer’.
The report adds:
‘For United, Baleba is a player of great interest and is entering a period in his career where his value could conceivably climb again with another successful season – potentially putting him out of range. The club need a midfielder of his profile but ultimately it was decided to put the resources this summer into signing attacking players, culminating in the £73.7m deal to sign the Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko.
‘Brighton are in a strong position with such progress by the player early in his five-year deal which gives them the option of turning down offers this summer. There is an argument that United would be better served looking in the same European market for a player of similar promise, although few have done that as well as Brighton.’