Baleba to Man Utd saga ‘likely’ in January as Mainoo transfer inevitable

Manchester United will reportedly push to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Carlos Baleba in January, which is bad news for Kobbie Mainoo.

Ruben Amorim’s side targeted Baleba towards the end of the summer transfer window but showed no desire to meet Brighton’s £100million asking price after making an enquiry.

The head coach was still strongly backed in the summer, with Man Utd spending over £200m on new signings, most notably revamping their attack with the additions of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

After spending big, the Red Devils turned their attention to outgoings in the final weeks of the window.

Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho both left on deadline day, but one player who stayed put despite speculation was Mainoo.

READ: Man Utd told to get Southgate ‘in to restructure the whole place’ at Amorim’s expense

There was intense chatter over his future after he was an unused substitute in Man Utd’s opening two Premier League games, with clubs ranging from Real Madrid to Tottenham linked. But the hierarchy, led by INEOS’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe, had no desire to let the England midfielder leave on loan.

Since then, Mainoo has had limited minutes: 45 off the bench against Burnley, 28 against Manchester City, three against Chelsea, and the full Carabao Cup second-round defeat to Grimsby Town.

Amorim has previously boiled p*ss by saying Mainoo is competing for Bruno Fernandes’ position in the team, rather than competing with Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte to play next to the Man Utd captain.

Fernandes is not getting dropped, especially in his current form, and with Ugarte failing to impress and Casemiro suspended after his red card against Chelsea, the clamour to see Mainoo start is growing even stronger.

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But spending a club-record fee on Baleba would all but nail Mainoo’s Old Trafford coffin shut. While Baleba’s arrival might excite fans, their academy graduate is the last player they want sacrificed to make it happen.

From a boardroom perspective, Mainoo can be sold for pure profit, a godsend for the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, which only makes his potential departure more appealing.

The prospect of losing him has already angered supporters, and if Football Insider is right that Man Utd will try again for Baleba in January, then the club are effectively willing to shove Mainoo out, whether deliberately or as collateral damage.

The report in question states:

Sources say that Ruben Amorim’s side are likely to go back in for the 21-year-old in January, and that speculation will increase again in the new year.

However, United would struggle to complete a deal during the mid-season window due to Brighton’s reluctance to sell, and would have a better chance of signing the youngster next summer.

Brighton value Baleba at over £100m… Despite this, the speculation is playing into the Red Devils’ hands, with the Cameroon international suffering a poor start to the season amid claims that his head has been turned.

Indeed, Baleba’s head might well have been turned by the struggling Red Devils, and Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler suggested as much after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Spurs.

“Everyone has to understand with Carlos, he’s a very young player,” Hurzeler said.

“It’s all a lot of theory. We can only guess. For sure, when a young boy reads that there’s interest from Manchester United with a big, big offer, it might affect him deep. Even if he’s not saying, ‘It affects me,’ maybe deep inside of him, there is something that affects him.

“It’s even part of the development, to understand when you play well and a big club comes, to keep pushing, and to stay humble, to stay at Brighton and make the next step as a team.”