Brighton CEO Paul Barber has “nothing to say” on Carlos Baleba as it appears Manchester United are close to signing the Seagulls midfielder.
There is an expectation that Baleba is soon going to become a United player. They’ve been looking all summer at adding three midfielders to the mix, and after getting Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans in quick succession, they’ve carefully looked for the man to round out the transfers.
A number of options, both within the Premier League and abroad, have been linked, but in recent days it was suggested United have come back in for Baleba, who they’ve looked at in other transfer windows.
He was previously rated above £100million by Brighton, but the deal the Red Devils are said to be finalising is worth £65million.
Amid those reports, Brighton CEO Barber is refusing to speak on the potential transfer.
He told talkSPORT: “It’s not something that I can talk about right now.
“At this time of year, we’re always going to be subject to bids for our players, we are always going to be interested in ones that are sensible and that are going to make sense for us financially and economically.
“But we always have to balance that with making sure the squad is as strong as it can be to compete in competitions like the one we are in tonight [Conference League].
“So nothing to really say on Carlos at the moment other than he’s a hugely talented young midfielder who’s done really well for us and has attracted interest from some of the biggest clubs in the world now for a couple of years. Let’s see where we go.”
Carlos Baleba deal coming for Manchester United
Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano is among those suggesting United are not very far away from landing Baleba.
He said: “The expectation is to see today, Thursday, for Man Utd returning to the table for negotiations and try close the deal for Carlos Baleba.
“So let’s see if it’s going to happen this week ahead of the Premier League opening matchday, but the deal is absolutely well underway for Baleba to Man Utd.
“There is an expectation they will reach an agreement quite soon. The agreement with the player is fully done and completed with his agents.
“The dream of the player is very clear – Baleba has been pushing and pushing to go to Man Utd.
“One year ago I told you the deal was not possible at that time because Brighton didn’t want to open doors for Baleba to join Man Utd.
“But I told you to keep an eye on 2026 because Man Utd are in love with the player, and they’ve decided to go for him.
“Now, the deal is on the right way and the expectation is to get it done.”