A Manchester United legend has told the club they “can’t pay” £100million for a “kid’ they don’t know “which way he’s going to go,” but the key to the transfer has been revealed in any case.
United have spent north of £200million on transfers this summer. A nominal fee was paid for Paraguayan left-back Diego Leon, but big sums were dropped on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.
After that, the Red Devils have been heavily linked with Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba.
The midfielder is valued at £100million or above, as is generally the case with Seagulls stars, but Roy Keane feels that’s too much for a 21-year-old with just 61 Premier League games under his belt.
Speaking on The Overlap, Keane said: “I’d be surprised if it happened. Because I still think that kid, he’s got to do a bit more.
“You’re talking about £100m, but I still think it’s potential with a lot of these players. You can’t pay £100m for a player where you don’t know which way he’s going to go.”
Whether that £100million would be able to be paid by United is a question in itself. Our friends at TEAMtalk have stated the Red Devils board know it would blow their budget, but they’re willing to do it anyway to land Baleba, and will deal with the consequences after.
Fabrizio Romano, though, has stated that sales – of Alejandro Garnacho, Antony or Jadon Sancho – will be ‘key’ to United offering a big sum for Baleba.
He has also stated that the deal is difficult, with Brighton wanting to keep him, and they are more likely to sell him in 2026.
As such, it would seem United would in fact need to get some cash coming back in before they can make a big outlay.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler has also detailed how unlikely he feels it is that Baleba will leave.
He said: “I am very, very confident.
“I didn’t see any change [from Carlos], he only changed his hair! He is enjoying being a Brighton player. He seems to be in a very good place, enjoying it with his team-mates.”
And though Baleba has been suffering with a knee injury, Hurzeler has stated the midfielder is: “is an option to start tomorrow.”
Indeed, it seems the odds are stacked against United unless something drastic changes in the latter stages of the summer window.
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