There’s a familiar playbook in football transfers: miss your first-choice target, then scramble to revive a deal you previously walked away from. Manchester United appears to be running that exact play with Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, a 22-year-old Cameroon international who has reportedly been eager to make the move to Old Trafford since last summer.

The renewed interest comes after United failed to land other midfield options, including Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.

The gap between want and willingness to pay

Brighton has reportedly set their asking price somewhere between £80 million and £100 million for Baleba. United’s previous valuation of the player sat considerably lower, in the range of £50 million to £75 million.

A deal that never fully died

What makes this situation unusual is that Baleba reportedly agreed personal terms with Manchester United last summer. Those terms apparently still stand for the current transfer window, meaning the player-side negotiation is essentially already done.

Baleba has also allegedly maintained contact with current United players throughout the season. Some reports have even floated the possibility that Baleba would consider contributing toward his own transfer fee to make the deal happen.

United’s scouting department has been tracking Baleba since the 2024/25 season and reportedly observed him during the Africa Cup of Nations.

The form question and what it means for valuation

One complicating factor: Baleba’s recent form has been inconsistent. For a player commanding a potential nine-figure transfer fee, that’s not ideal. It creates a tension between Brighton’s asking price, which reflects what they believe he could become, and United’s valuation, which probably weighs more heavily on what he’s shown recently.