Manchester United's players are doing their bit to aid the club's pursuit of Carlos Baleba as they make contact with the Brighton midfielder over an Old Trafford switch
A number of Manchester United's players have been in contact with Brighton's Carlos Baleba about the prospect of him moving to Old Trafford in the final weeks of the transfer window.
Last week the Red Devils expressed an interest in the player, who has seen his stock rise with the Seagulls. He is the latest player to move to the Amex as a relatively unknown quantity before becoming a huge hit and those in Manchester are now circling.
The Cameroon midfielder will have played with Andre Onana at international level and was previously team-mates with Leny Yoro at Lille. Several of the United squad have been in contact to explain the current landscape and ambitions, reports the Athletic.
Baleba played in both of Brighton's wins over the Manchester outfit last season and was one of the most impressive players in his position across the Premier League. United though accept that any deal may be hard to strike given the numbers involved.
Having already spent more than £200million on new signings there is not huge amounts of budget left. The club are not expected to submit a bid for Baleba unless they believe there is a chance of success as they continue with indirect conversations.
Brighton have already sold Joao Pedro to Chelsea for £60m, lessening their need to sell. The Seagulls also want to retain their top talent and the price they slap on Baleba may curtail United's hopes of getting a deal over the line. The last time the south coast side sold a player of Baleba's profile it was Moises Caicedo - who left for more than £100m.
The Cameroonian himself has shown no great desire to leave the Amex and Brighton. Their chief executive Paul Barber recently played down speculation about Baleba making the move to Manchester.
He said: "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."