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Manchester United does not plan to move for Carlos Baleba before closing the transfer window.
Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder, aged 21, was the best target of United to strengthen in position n ° 6 and they organized preliminary conversations on an agreement.
The discussions initially took place with Brighton via intermediaries on behalf of United, before the clubs had a direct conversation.
Brighton clearly indicated that they did not intend to sell Baleba this summer and plan to keep it for at least another season.
The level of money they indicated that it would take to consider an agreement – around 115 million pounds sterling that Chelsea spent for months Caicedo – is beyond what United is ready to pay on the current market.
It is therefore planned that an agreement will no longer materialize.
The move to Old Trafford called on Baleba so that personal terms would have posed no problem – and the international of Cameroon is ready to continue to push, even if it means to wait for the future.
This does not suggest that he is unhappy with Brighton and the dialogue was cordial, United while respecting their position.
There is also an acceptance to United that even if they admire Baleba and the interest remains strong, he has only two Premier League campaigns to his credit and still develops.
United has already invested a lot in two players at the top age, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, and an emerging talent in Benjamin Sesko.
Although there is internal satisfaction with the entering company to date, they want to be disciplined financially and a significant amount of work must also be carried out during departures.
Baleba has played 40 appearances in all competitions for Brighton last season, scoring four goals and providing two assists, when he became one of the most popular players in his position.
He joined Brighton from the French club Lille in August 2023 in a transfer of a value of just under 26 million pounds sterling with additional modules and made 77 appearances for the side of the southern coast.
Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Pervis Estupinan all left Brighton permanently this summer, joining Chelsea, Sunderland and Milan respectively, while striker Evan Ferguson signed for Roma on loan.
In terms of creations, Fabian Hurzeler’s team obtained the arrivals of Charalampos Kostoulas, Diego Coppola, Maxime de Cuyper and Olivier Boscagli.
Does UTD need to sign a midfielder this summer?
Analysis by Manchester United correspondent Carl Anka
United Fans will be discouraged to hear Carlos Baleba will not join Ruben Amorim, but prohibitive transfer fees have made such an agreement difficult to conclude.
Amorim was relaxed when asked for the need to recruit new midfielder, even offering Mason Mount as a possible option for a deeper box-to-box if the situation requires.
“We have players to face and win first League games,” said head coach at his last press conference on Friday afternoon, but United has no abundance of athletic and combative fields compared to their six best rivals.
Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro have an appetite to tackle, but the first is a limited smuggler, while the second is 33 years old and needs a capable sub-study.
Amorim ideally wants the central fields of its 3-4-3 are proactive defenders, capable of covering large areas of space. Good athletics is a basic requirement, and Amorim appreciates field environments that can progress quickly through long passes.
Are there players who stay in Europe who can adapt to the bill? Here is a Athletic-The list created from late June.
(Mike Hewitt / Getty images)
