Manchester United are set to step up their interest in Sevilla midfielder Lucien Agoume after a move for Brighton's Carlos Baleba fell through, according to Orgullobiri.
The Red Devils have so far strengthened their squad with the arrivals of forwards Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, but manager Ruben Amorim wants to add a new central midfielder before the window closes too.
Baleba was identified as the top target at Old Trafford but Brighton were not interested in a sale during this summer transfer window, with the Seagulls believed to value him in excess of £100m, and now INEOS have begun looking at alternative targets.
Man Utd Pushing for Agoume
Lucien Agoume Sevilla-1
Agoume, who has been described as 'extraordinary', was one of Sevilla's standout performers in La Liga last season but couldn't stop them from finishing in 17th place, which has seen them now become desperate to raise funds through player sales.
The Frenchman has a €40m (£34.5m) release clause in his contract which is seen as appealing to Man Utd currently, as he offer the attributes that Amorim is looking for in midfield for an affordable price.
However, it's believed that the club feel they may be able to bring that price down even further to around £20m. But Sevilla have set their bar at now lower than £26m, as the 23-year-old's former club Inter Milan are due 10% of any deal that goes through due to a sell-on clause.
Manchester United aren't the only interested club, with the article stating that other unnamed Premier League clubs are keeping a close eye on his situation. However, currently, there is no deal advanced with anyone and the player is focused on helping Sevilla.
United could step up their interest with a formal move in the coming days as we enter the final two weeks of the transfer window, but the current priority at Old Trafford is to make some sales to raise funds, which could see this drag on for a little while longer.
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