Carlos Baleba to Man Utd DONE as Red Devils midfielder now in talks over loan exit
The deal for Manchester United to sign Carlos Baleba is in place, with a Red Devils midfielder now in talks over an exit from Old Trafford on loan.
United’s midfield was identified as the area needing most work this summer. Casemiro has left, Manuel Ugarte is injured and Mason Mount has failed to convince since joining.
As such, the Red Devils aimed to sign three new midfielders this summer, and have had two in place for some time: Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans.
After getting two Premier League midfielders through the door, they returned to the fold for a third, Carlos Baleba, who they wanted when he was valued over £100million last year.
Carlos Baleba deal done at Old Trafford
United came in with a £65million bid of late, and continued negotiating until TEAMtalk revealed, among other outlets, that a deal was done, for an entire package of £70million.
The deal is worth an initial £65million, with another £5million in add-ons.
Baleba has long been open to heading to Old Trafford and was eager to make the move when the opportunity arose again of late.
Sources state a five-year deal has been handed to the Cameroon international.
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Jacob Devaney in talks for United exit
Whether 19-year-old midfielder Jacob Devaney would have remained in United’s squad this season had a third player not been added to the middle of the park is unclear, but the Irishman is now in talks to head out on loan again.
BBC Sport reports Devaney, who spent part of last season with St Mirren, is in talks over a loan move back to Scotland, with Hibernian.
It’s said that the 19-year-old has been the subject of a lot of interest, and Hibs are now in advanced talks, though no deal has been confirmed quite yet.
Devaney had wanted to remain in the first team at United this season, and appeared to have made that goal possible after a pair of good pre-season performances, including a goalscoring one against Rosenborg.
But with three new midfielders to add to Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Mount and more, it seems best for Devaney to head out on loan, with the Scottish Premiership a familiar location for him.
Raphinha sends Alejandro Balde hint
As well as the midfield, United have also been linked with a number of left-back additions this summer.
Among those is Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde, with it revealed this week that the Red Devils had made a call to understand the situation of the defender.
But a report in Spain believes Barca vice-captain Raphinha is hinting to the club that he doesn’t want Balde to leave.
Indeed, he’s posted a picture hugging his team-mate, which the outlet is taking as a statement that he’s ‘publicly supporting’ him against a move away.
