Sources: Liverpool rival Man Utd for €100m star “no one realistically expects” to stay at current club

Liverpool look to have joined Manchester United and Tottenham in the race for the transfer of Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba.

As first reported for the Daily Briefing earlier today, Baleba remains a top target for a number of big clubs despite suffering a slight dip in form for Brighton this season.

I’ve previously reported on sources informing me that the Cameroon international could likely cost as much as €100m to prise away from the Seagulls.

As well as United, who have been most strongly linked with Baleba, there is also interest from Liverpool, Spurs, and Bayern Munich.

It seems some initial enquiries have been coming in for Baleba this month, even if it seems the clear message from Brighton is that he won’t be moving now, with a deal considered a lot more realistic for the summer.

His club are under no illusions, however, that it will be tricky to keep him for much longer.

“Brighton are fielding multiple enquiries for Baleba this month,” one source, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships told me. “There are teams who would ideally bring him in this January, but the message is that that won’t be possible. No one realistically expects him to stay beyond the summer, though.”

United probably need Baleba more as they continue to rebuild under Ruben Amorim, but Liverpool’s interest could also be something to keep an eye on.

The project at Anfield would probably be seen as more tempting after the team’s recent success in winning the Premier League title and being in the Champions League more frequently.

Still, Baleba would probably get more guaranteed game time at Old Trafford as Amorim urgently needs a top class young upgrade on the likes of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte.

Liverpool already have Ryan Gravenberch in fine form in Baleba’s position, so it remains to be seen if moving there would really be the best thing for his own personal development.

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