Manchester United are hoping to end their summer transfer window with a big-money move for Brighton’s Carlos Baleba.
So far, Manchester United have welcomed four new signings into Ruben Amorim’s side, with the latest being the £66m arrival of Benjamin Sesko.
But Ineos are far from being done in the transfer market, with Amorim wanting an “athletic” midfielder before the window slams shut at the end of the month.
United have approached Brighton for Carlos Baleba, but with £200 million already spent on new signings, affording the Cameroon international could prove to be difficult.
Brighton want £100m to sell Baleba this summer, which would be Ineos’ biggest signing so far.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesFinance expert on how Man United can afford Carlos Baleba
According to Fabrizio Romano, Baleba’s personal terms are no issue for United, meaning the only remaining hurdle is agreeing a fee with Brighton.
With United needing to cough up £100m, United in Focus spoke exclusively to football finance expert Adam Williams about how Ineos can make it happen.
“If the £100m asking price is correct, I don’t see how United would stretch to that without significant sales. And it would probably have to be sales, not just loans of players on high wages,” Williams said.
“If they loan out Garnacho or Hojlund, they might save £25m in annual wages and maybe get a modest loan fee, but they are still going to have to bear those costs when they return to the club, and there is no guarantee that they will be able to sell them for significant fees thereafter. It may be that any club who was willing to take them on loan would expect a chunk of their wages covered anyway.
“In any case, the Baleba deal would probably be structured over two or three instalments, so it’s next year’s cash flow that they would need to be concerned with too. Given where they are as a team, I don’t think they can bank on getting European income in 2025-26. They have the overdraft facility that they have extended, yes, but that comes with an interest charge. They also had over £300m of transfer debt per their last quarterly accounts, and that figure will now have increased significantly with the arrivals of Sesko, Mbuemo and Cunha.
“As is well documented at this point, PSR probably isn’t the immediate concern. It’s access to cash that’s the real sticking point. If push came to shove, they could probably afford Baleba in the short term for £100m, but they’d be betting on A) significant player sales or wage savings, either this season or next, B) an upturn in performance that sees them get into Europe next season, C) another cash injection from Ratcliffe or the Glazers, which seems unlikely in the near future, or D) a big new commercial deal.
“The training ground doesn’t yet have a naming rights partner and they also don’t have a training kit sponsor, I believe. Perhaps they are avenues they could explore.”
Man United close to two deals to enable Carlos Baleba signing
Clearly, United will need to raise cash to fund their Carlos Baleba bid, but Ineos are already close to completing a few important sales.
Alejandro Garnacho is close to joining Chelsea with United hoping to earn around £30m from his sale.
At the same time, AC Milan are hoping to sign Rasmus Hojlund on an initial loan deal which could eventually earn around £30-£40m for United if he is signed permanently.
READ MORE: ‘Masterstroke’ – Carlos Baleba told to join Man United by former Cameroon star Eric Djemba-Djemba
If both sales go ahead soon, a deal for Baleba could become much more realistic as we approach the final few days of the transfer window.
United’s PSR position is safe for now, and Baleba would be a brilliant end to what has been a brilliant window for the Red Devils.