Manchester United already have a wildcard transfer option they can sign in January
The very latest Man Utd transfer news and gossip as they continue to plot future business for a midfielder.
Mark has been a football journalist since 2017 and has contributed to several publications including the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and football.london. He also spent eight months on the US Sports team for the Mirror US
Manchester United ended up having a rather busy finale to the summer transfer window. And, in truth, there was the potential for it to have been even more hectic than it ended up.
Five new signings were completed by United this summer, with Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens joining Diego Leon in moving to Old Trafford. The transfer window saw United address their forward line and their goalkeeping department – but one area of their squad still, arguably, needs to be addressed.
United were linked with several midfielders during the summer, with Brighton star Carlos Baleba one name that was mentioned as a potential target. However, it would likely have taken a fee in excess of £100million to give a deal a chance of getting agreed, something which United were not willing to do this summer.
Only time will tell if United will still have an interest in Baleba in the months ahead, particularly in January which is notoriously a difficult time to do business. Brighton will likely not want to sell Baleba midway through a season – so United may be forced to look at alternative targets if they still wish to sign a midfielder.
One player who could be viewed as an alternative to Baleba is Angelo Stiller. The Stuttgart midfielder was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League during the summer – but ended up remaining with the Bundesliga outfit.
Sport Bild even reported on deadline day that United had expressed an interest in signing Stiller, who is reported to be valued at around €60million (£52million). Whether the interest in Stiller is genuine remains to be seen, but if United are unable to sign Baleba, then the Stuttgart star could be a midfield alternative worth considering.
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