Manchester United is still planning to pursue a move to Carlos Baleba from Brighton and are convinced that personal conditions for the midfielder would not be a problem
Manchester United believes that personal conditions with Carlos Baleba will not be a problem with the player who likes to be on the move – but it is still to see whether Brighton is open to sales.
Last week, those at Old Trafford made contact via intermediaries to gauge whether they could close a deal for the Cameroon -Midfielder, who produced an impressive season in the Seagulls and is now attracting a number of admiring cans.
Baleba probably costs around £ 100 million – which is just shy of the figure that Brighton demanded before they agreed to sell Moises Caicedo to Chelsea two summers ago.
United does not currently have that kind of amounts and from the moment they showed their interest, there was an acceptance that securing the deal would be a huge challenge. They have spent more than £ 200 million to sign Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo, among others.
Fabrizio Romano reports that those in Manchester will still try to follow a deal, but know that they might miss. After landing Sesko's signing on Saturday, Ruben Amorim's priority is now on adding a midfielder.
Brighton has already sold Joao Pedro to Chelsea, up to £ 60 million, and will be abolished to lose another most important players, while less is needed to cash in. Their Chief Executive Paul Barber has played speculation that the Red Devils have even been in contact and underlines the fact that the Seagulls are not interested in selling more of their top players.
He said: “We have a great talent, there will always be interest in our players. Manchester United has not had any contact with me. From that point of view, speculation is speculation.
“We will always try to ensure that we sell our best players at the right time, not just for the player, but for us. If we do that with a player, it is with the view to leave Fabian with a competitive team, whatever happens. We don't want to sell our best players.
“Carlos is a fantastic talent that is for many years for him. We hope he will be here for many years to come. But it is something that, as always, is subjective to the dynamics of the football world that is not always predictable.