Lille are excited that Manchester United are closing in on signing Brighton & Hove Albion‘s Carlos Baleba this summer.
Towards the end of last summer, the Premier League side made an attempt and Brighton turned it down.
There was belief the midfielder would leave Brighton this summer, and that Manchester United were most likely to be his next destination.
Manchester United close to completing signing
Earlier today, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that the Red Devils are closing in on signing the Cameroon international.
Michael Carrick’s side are offering £60m [€70m] plus £5m [€5.8m] in bonuses. Although it’s below Brighton & Hove Albion’s valuation, the two clubs are working towards finding an agreement.
Manchester United are stepping up in order to finalise the agreement and complete the 22-year-old’s transfer.
The media from his home country, Actu Cameroun, are also reporting Carlos Baleba is close to joining Manchester United.
Why Lille are happy with Manchester United move
The Ligue 1 side are in for a financial gain if the midfielder completes a move to Old Trafford this summer.
Foot Mercato explains how Lille will benefit from Brighton & Hove Albion selling the midfielder.
The Cameroonian first arrived in Europe when Lille signed him in 2022. He made his first team debut in August 2022 and finished the season with 683 minutes from 23 matches.
That was enough to convince the Seagulls to sign him for around €30m from Lille, who also agreed on a sell-on clause. This is around 15-20% and the French club would now be in for a significant financial gain.
In other words, if the Seagulls sell Carlos Baleba to Manchester United for around €70m in a fixed fee, Lille will receive around €6-8m.
With Baleba’s signing, the English club will strengthen their midfield with him, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos. The three major signings of this window have Premier League experience.
