Manchester United have received some encouragement in their pursuit of Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Carlos Baleba.
Complex deal
After making significant improvements in attack with the signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, United have turned their attention to midfield reinforcements.
This has led to the pursuit of the highly talented all-action Cameroonian midfielder, Baleba.
It has been reported that the 21-year-old wants a move to Old Trafford this summer and has been in contact with several United players over a potential transfer.
As a result, United are expected to make a significant bid in the next few days but some sources are quoting that Brighton do not want to sell and will only consider an eye-watering fee north of £100 million.
Brighton boss acknowledges interest
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has spoken out on United’s potential move for Baleba and has perhaps given the Red Devils some encouragement.
Instead of outrightly dismissing the possibility, the young manager has claimed that his side could handle the loss of such a talented player.
Speaking to BBC’s Monday Night Club podcast he was asked if he feared losing important players.
He responded, “no chance. I don’t feel fear. I’m not afraid of anything because the only thing we can do is be the best version we can be every day, like work as hard as we can.”
The German claimed, “all the other things we can’t influence, so we really have to focus on us. For sure, we can’t spend the money like the big teams but one of our biggest values is togetherness. And if you stay together, if we try to push our limits and increase the boundaries, then I’m sure we can compete with the big teams.”
He went on to state that the club “always finds solutions” to losing players and accepted, “that’s our model, we have to accept it.”
Hurzeler did warn that Brighton do not “sell every player” though and this has been demonstrated by them turning down offers for Kaoru Mitoma.
Nonetheless, the money United would be willing to pay for Baleba would certainly test the Seagulls’ steely resolve.
Featured image Mike Hewitt via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
