Why Man Utd are ‘increasingly confident’ of signing £100m PL star as ‘transfer decision’ made | OneFootball

A new report has explained why Manchester United are ‘growing increasingly confident’ regarding their chances of signing Brighton star Carlos Baleba.

In the summer, Man Utd made an audacious attempt to sign Baleba from Brighton, but they were priced out of a move for the young centre-midfielder.

Baleba has established himself as one of the best young midfielders in Europe over the past couple of seasons and he has been mooted as a potential long-term replacement for Casemiro.

However, after Man Utd spent around £230m on signings and failed to offload Bruno Fernandes, they had little funds remaining to invest on a new midfielder and they certainly could not afford a deal for Baleba, which would have cost around £100m.

Therefore, Man Utd have kicked their midfield issues down the road until this year and a significant overhaul is expected in this department in the coming months.

Recent reports have indicated that Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo and/or Bruno Fernandes could leave, while Baleba remains ont the radar with several other targets, including Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

Regarding Baleba, a new report from The Sun claims the Red Devils are ‘growing increasingly confident of securing him’ this year as they ‘plan to resurrect’ their midfield.

The report claims: ‘According to well-placed sources, United are becoming more optimistic about prising Baleba away from the Amex in the summer.

‘The 22-year-old central midfielder is tied to Brighton until 2028 but his stock has dropped since United’s interest surfaced last year.’

There have been conflicting reports regarding whether Man Utd will do any business this month, but Manchester Evening News have explained that this is currently a firm no.

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They claim that the Red Devils have ‘made a January transfer decision’ as ‘they are not expected to deviate from their January transfer window plan following Michael Carrick’s appointment as head coach’.

Regarding the two reasons for this stance, the report explains: ‘Carrick returned to United this week to oversee the remainder of the season, and there has been speculation that he could be backed with new additions. It’s understood, however, that United are unlikely to make any signings in January because they are focused on long-term planning and their targets are not available in the winter window.

‘United committed an outlay of £215million (excluding add-ons) to sign Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, Senne Lammens and Diego Leon in the summer window, which the club views as the preferred time to land their top targets for value-for-money transfer fees.’