Man Utd 'plan Carlos Baleba transfer talks' with first hurdle in massive deal cleared

Manchester United believe that personal terms with Carlos Baleba will not be an issue with the player keen on the move - but it remains to be seen whether Brighton are open to selling.

Last week those at Old Trafford made contact via intermediaries to gauge whether they could strike a deal for the Cameroon midfielder, who produced an impressive season at the Seagulls and is now attracting a number of admiring glances.

Baleba is likely to cost around £100million - which is just shy of the figure Brighton demanded before they agreed to sell Moises Caicedo to Chelsea two summers ago.

United do not currently have those kinds of sums and from the minute they expressed their interest there was an acceptance that securing the deal would be a huge challenge. They've spent more than £200m to sign the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo.

Fabrizio Romano reports that those in Manchester will still attempt to pursue a deal but know that they may miss out. After landing Sesko's signing on Saturday Ruben Amorim's priority now is on adding a midfielder.

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Brighton have already sold Joao Pedro to Chelsea, banking up to £60m, and will be loathed to lose another of their major players whilst there is less need for them to cash in. Their chief executive Paul Barber has played down speculation that the Red Devils have even been in contact and underlined the fact that the Seagulls have no interest in selling more of their top players.

He said: "We've got some great talent, there's always going to be interest in our players. Manchester United have not been in touch with me. From that point of view, speculation is speculation.

"We will always try to make sure we sell our best players at the right time, not just for the player but for us. If we end up doing that with any player, it's with the view to leave Fabian with a competitive squad, whatever happens. We don't want to sell our best players.

"Carlos is a fantastic talent who has a lot of years ahead of him. We hope he will be here for many years to come. But it's something that, as always, is subjective to the dynamics of the football world which isn't always predictable.

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