David Tully Aug 11th 2025
Man United were in constant “contact with the agents” of Carlos Baleba at the weekend, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano provided an overview of what has been going on over the past few days:
“In the next days, contacts will continue for Carlos Baleba. I keep mentioning that it is a difficult deal. I keep mentioning that it is a really tough negotiation with Brighton, but I also keep mentioning that Man United remain in contact with the agents. They did that on Friday. They did that on Saturday. They did that on Sunday also in the recent hours. So Manchester United remain in active talks on player side for Carlos Baleba, but then there is going to be the difficult part, and United want to try to understand what happens with Brighton. So they want to make an attempt, but again on club side with Brighton at the moment, the situation remains difficult, but Man United are not giving up.”
Romano says this weekend has given some clarity for the Red Devils. The player is clearly interested in making the switch to Old Trafford, but the move could still break down if Brighton are not willing to play ball:
“I think it was an important weekend to understand if Man United said, ‘Okay, we’re going to leave it. We focus on different targets’ or not. May United, as of today, remain in conversations with the agents of Baleba – still thinking about this possibility. So, midfielder and goalkeeper are two positions that we have to keep an eye on for Manchester United till the very end of this summer transfer window. So, for this story of Carlos Baleba, very difficult for sure, unlikely for sure, complicated for sure but Manchester United have the feeling that the player is open to the move and so Manchester United want to try see what happens with some contacts for Baleba then we will see if they to continue or move on to a different target.”
Why is a move for Baleba so complicated?
The main issue is the asking price. It is thought that Brighton will demand in excess of £100m for the Cameroon international, which is not a fee United can really match without player sales.
In addition, it is believed that Baleba himself will not press to leave the Seagulls this summer, so the chances of the valuation going down before the transfer window closes is very low.
Have Man United considered any alternatives?
Romano revealed that the Red Devils did consider Joao Palhinha as an option earlier in the summer, before the Portuguese midfielder sealed his loan move to Tottenham from Bayern Munich.
Atalanta’s Ederson, Sporting Lisbon’s Morten Hjulmand and Brentford’s Frank Onyeka have all been mentioned as alternatives. All would be considerably cheaper than Baleba, but the Brighton star is deemed the top target.
Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here
David Tully
David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World’s Football News Network.
