Manchester United’s summer rebuild is fully up and running, but the club don’t seem to be done yet.
Benjamin Sesko is set to sign for the Red Devils to complete a brand-new front three, along with Bryan Mbeumo who joined from Brentford after a protracted saga and former Wolverhampton Wanderers man Matheus Cunha.
United were pitiful in front of goal last season, scoring only 44 in the Premier League, and INEOS have spent big to hand Ruben Amorim players capable of addressing this problem.
That said, there are still issues to address elsewhere on the pitch, and central midfield looks to be a likely area for reinforcement this summer.
Baleba interest
Reliable reports earlier this week claimed that United had contacted Brighton and Hove Albion to explore the conditions of a deal for Carlos Baleba, one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the league.
Fuel was added to the fire when it emerged that the Cameroonian has given the “green light” to United and is keen on the move. As such, personal terms are not expected to be a problem but any deal with the Seagulls would be an uphill battle.
The south-coast side’s valuation for the 21-year-old is believed to be at least £100m, and the club can use their previous sale of Moises Caicedo to Chelsea for £115m as a benchmark.
Swap deal ruled out
United were rumoured to be considering offering a swap deal involving Toby Collyer to bring the price down, but according to the Manchester Evening News this is a complete non-starter.
The outlet states in no uncertain terms that “Toby Collyer will not be considered as a makeweight in a swap deal for Carlos Baleba”, who they add is valued at £100m.
Interestingly the report is unclear as to whether United or Brighton are ruling out Collyer’s involvement in a potential deal, but it thoroughly rebuffs any speculation on the subject. It notes that the rumours were based on Collyer having come up through Brighton’s academy before moving to United in 2022.
Collyer’s future uncertain
The report continues that the youngster’s future is “still up in the air”, with plenty of interest from clubs looking for loans or permanent deals.
The MEN state that “current indications suggest Collyer will go on loan”, which seems like the right move for player and club.
The 21-year-old is highly though of at United and in fact possesses a lot of the traits which Amorim looks for in his midfielders, so a season spent getting consistent game time would be an excellent opportunity for him to show exactly what he’s capable of.
Featured image Mike Hewitt via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
