Manchester United appear on the verge of completing a significant overhaul of their midfield, with an opening bid of £60m plus £5m in add-ons lodged for Brighton's Carlos Baleba. While the offer is expected to fall short of Brighton's valuation, negotiations remain ongoing and there is growing confidence within the game that a deal will eventually be reached.the Premier League club having already brought in Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa within a 24-hour span last month.
Baleba, who has made 112 appearances for Brighton since arriving from Lille for £23.2m in August 2023, is currently sidelined with an ankle injury picked up in pre-season and is not expected to be fit for a couple more weeks. Despite that setback, United's interest in the 21-year-old is said to date back roughly 12 months, even though the club had publicly downplayed any links to him in recent months while speculation swirled around alternatives such as Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, Bournemouth duo Alex Scott and Tyler Adams, Roma's Manu Kone, and Fulham's Sander Berge.
The pursuit of a