Fabrizio Romano drops ’50/50′ bombshell on stunning next Man Utd signing after Carlos Baleba
A stunning signing that looked difficult to make for Manchester United has now been rated at 50/50 by Fabrizio Romano.
Manchester United are finalising their midfield rebuild with the addition of Carlos Baleba to the tune of £70m (£65m plus £5m in add-ons). United have also agreed to Brighton’s request regarding a sell-on clause.
With Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos already banked, United’s attention is now turning to signing a left-back to compete with and eventually replace Luke Shaw.
Newcastle’s Lewis Hall is their preferred option, though the Magpies are refusing to sell having already offloaded three of their best players this summer (Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon).
What’s more, Newcastle are now in talks with Hall and his camp regarding a new and improved contract and a place on the leadership team.
As such, Man Utd must look elsewhere, and earlier this week, transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, revealed a call had been made to super agent Jorge Mendes regarding Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde.
Romano stressed Balde, 22, doesn’t want to leave Barca, though the LaLiga champions could approve his sale if a significant bid is tabled.
And per the latest from Romano overnight, Balde’s situation is now a genuine coin flip.
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“For Balde it’s a 50/50 situation,” insisted Romano when reporting on his YouTube channel. “Because in case of a good proposal Balde could still leave Barcelona.
“But what I can tell you is the player is not pushing to go. So just to give you context, there was a call this week between Jorge Mendes and Man Utd.
“Man Utd are looking for a left-back and they were asking for the conditions of the deal.
“Mendes was considering this possibility, but the player is not pushing to go. And it’s not about rejecting [Man Utd].
“The player is very happy in Barcelona and would love to compete for his spot in Barcelona.
“So the only way to see Balde leaving Barcelona between now and the end of the season is if its Barca telling Balde ‘okay, we need to sell you, we want to sell you.’ That’s the only way.
“Man Utd are informed on the conditions and as of today, they’ve not returned with any official bid.”
Romano concluded his update by declaring Balde’s situation remains an ‘open’ one.
Clearly, there is scope for Man Utd striking a club-to-club agreement with Barcelona over the coming days, though only if they table an offer too good to refuse.
If they do, United will then have to convince Balde to leave his boyhood club.
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