‘They went away’ – Premier League club confirm Man Utd withdrew interest in £100m star

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom claims Manchester United simply ‘went away’ when they were told Carlos Baleba was not available in the summer.

United’s hierarchy identified Baleba as their top midfield target towards the end of the transfer window, with Ruben Amorim desperate to bring in a player with dynamism and energy to suit his 3-4-3 formation.

The Red Devils made their first approach for Baleba in early August having already strengthened their attack with the addition of both Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.

But Brighton made it clear it would require an offer in excess of £100million to have any chance of prising Baleba away from the Amex Stadium.

Old Trafford bosses, who reportedly valued Baleba at around £70m, decided to drop their interest as a result, with Fabian Hurzeler reassuring Brighton fans that the Cameroon international would not be sold.

And though United would go on to strengthen at either end of the pitch by capturing Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens – the transfer deadline came and went without the club bolstering their midfield ranks.

United supporters managed to keep speculation over Baleba’s future alive throughout much of the summer on social media. Hurzeler and Amorim, meanwhile, were repeatedly questioned about the youngster, right up until the end of the window.

But in an interview with The Argus, Brighton chairman Bloom said: ‘I don’t think Baleba was a saga.

‘There was interest from Manchester United, and we said that he wasn’t available this summer and they went away.

‘So we’ve had many bigger sagas in the past.’

Bloom is pleased Baleba has put the rumours over his future to one side to further establish himself as a ‘massively important’ figure at Brighton this season.

‘His improvement has been immense,’ he added.

‘He’s a massively important player to this football club and we’re just delighted that he’s with us for this season.’

Baleba’s team-mate Brighton, Kaoru Mitoma, has also been the subject of incessant transfer speculation and gossip in recent months.

Saudi Pro League outfit Al Nassr saw a sizeable offer turned down for Mitoma last winter, while Arsenal and Bayern Munich were credited with an interest in the Japan winger in the summer.

‘There was some interest in January,’ Bloom said when asked if there was any update on Mitoma.

‘But Kaoru is absolutely committed to the football club, another key player for us. He has done sensationally well.

‘Again, delighted that he’s part of our squad because we know that occasionally some of our best players will be sold.

‘But, when that happens, we don’t want too many at any one time.

‘And then we always try and make sure that the players coming in, maybe players we’ve brought in previous seasons, can help with that situation.

‘But that’s true of almost every club.’

Although Bloom cannot stop Europe’s elite clubs expressing an interest in their top players – he says the club try to be as ‘prepared’ as possible to start every season with a ‘really competitive squad’.

‘The best players, unless you’re potentially Manchester City, Liverpool, Madrid, PSG, almost every club’s best players do get sold,’ he continued.

It’s up to us to make sure that we are prepared as much as we can.

‘We can’t always get the timing right, but we are as prepared as much as we can be to make sure that, at the start of every season, we have a really, really competitive squad.’

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