Excitement has been building at Manchester United as the club look set to get serious about finally fixing a key problem position.
Ruben Amorim has tried several different combinations in the middle of the park to bring stability and dynamism to his 3-4-2-1 system, but his squad lacks the profile of player to really make things tick.
This was hammered home once again yesterday as the pairing of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes struggled in United’s final pre-season friendly against Fiorentina.
Baleba the number one target
Lots of names have been thrown around this summer for potential midfield reinforcement, and United were said to have put together a three-man shortlist.
Juventus’ Douglas Luiz, Morten Hjulmand of Sporting CP and Atalanta’s Ederson made up the list, and each seemed a sensible solution.
But in the past week the Red Devils have pivoted to Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba as their priority target, despite his reported price tag of at least £100m.
United have been boosted by the player’s reported desire to make the switch to Old Trafford and are in constant contact with his agents, with personal terms unlikely to be a problem.
Other clubs in the mix
Things have been moving fast with the Baleba saga and United fans have dared to dream that the signing could be made this summer. However, CaughtOffside bring us back down to earth with a bump with their report that there are as many as six other sides “closely monitoring” the Cameroonian.
Familiar foes Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Manchester City are all keeping tabs on the player, which comes as no surprise given his quality and Premier League experience.
CaughtOffside note that each club has a vision for how Baleba would fit into their squad, be it Spurs looking for an upgrade on Yves Bissouma or City simply appreciating his playing style.
Of course, Brighton are highly reluctant to part ways with one of their best players so possibly the biggest threat to a deal for United is the Seagulls digging their heels in rather than a rival beating them to the punch.
Lower asking price
However, the report also notes that Brighton have set an asking price of €60-70m for the 21-year-old, which is substantially lower than stated elsewhere.
This comes as a huge boost for United – and the rest of the chasing pack – but seems unlikely given that the Seagulls received some £115m for Moises Caicedo not long ago.
They will not want to lose his replacement for much below that figure, although if he is truly agitating for a move away a steep initial asking price could start to fall just as it did with Joao Pedro’s switch to Chelsea earlier this summer.
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.
