Manchester United are no longer expected to pursue Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Carlos Baleba after being put off by the Seagulls’ refusal to negotiate, a report has revealed.
Central midfielder is a key area of concern for United manager Ruben Amorim and it emerged earlier this month that Baleba, 21, sits at the top of their transfer wishlist, although Brighton’s public determination to keep hold of their star midfielder always meant a deal would be tough to pull off.
The Athletic note United and Brighton have since held direct talks over a move for Baleba, but both parties left the negotiations feeling as though the situation will not progress before the end of the summer transfer window.
Brighton are keen to keep hold of Baleba, who is under contract until 2028 with the option of a further 12 months, and warned United it would take a fee around the £115 million ($156 million) Chelsea paid to sign Moisés Caicedo two years ago to get a deal for Baleba over the line.
Clearly, having already spent over £200 million on attacking recruits Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Šeško, such an offer is highly unrealistic for United and the Red Devils are not expected to pursue Baleba again this summer.
Baleba, while understood to be incredibly happy at Brighton, is thought to be keen to join United in the future and will “keep pushing” to seal a switch to Old Trafford, but there is an awareness that move will almost certainly not happen this year.
Amorim has made no secret of his desire to bolster in midfield but funds are clearly limited without significant player sales, while club officials are determined to be sensible with their transfer kitty and have concerns about spending such a significant fee on Baleba when he has just two years of Premier League experience under his belt.
Alternative targets will be sought and United will hope to fund a move through the sales of Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho, the latter of whom is the subject of a loan bid from Roma which includes an obligation to buy worth around £20 million.
READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd Forced Into Carlos Baleba ‘Transfer Decision’ After Formal Brighton Contact.