The bid is about 65m pounds, Brighton and Hove Albion have not agreed it, and the ankle keeps him out until late September.
Manchester United must register Carlos Baleba by midday on Friday 21 August for him to be eligible at Hull City the following day, per the Evening Standard on 19 August. The deadline is real. The debut is not.
REPORTED, meaning named reporters attributed in the sentence. David Ornstein of The Athletic has Manchester United's offer at around 60m pounds plus 5m in add-ons, a package of about 65m, and reports that Brighton and Hove Albion consider it below what they would sell for, with talks described as amicable and continuing. Fabrizio Romano reports an official bid worth more than 70m euros plus 6m in add-ons, no club to club agreement, and a fresh proposal being prepared to close inside 24 to 48 hours. Both reporters agree on the part that matters: Brighton and Hove Albion have not said yes.
The player's position has not changed in a year. Romano reports that Baleba agreed personal terms with Manchester United in August 2025 and that Brighton and Hove Albion shut the door at the time, and that those terms still stand. That is one reporter, attributed, and it is not a club statement.
The fitness picture is the part the fee talk has been talking over. Baleba damaged ankle ligaments in pre-season training and has not played a Brighton and Hove Albion friendly since; The Athletic reported the injury on 6 August, when he was already a doubt for the start of the season. The Evening Standard reported on 19 August that he is not expected back until late September, and put a realistic first appearance at Tottenham Hotspur on 10 October.
Two readings sit side by side and this desk is not tidying them into one. Ornstein has the injury as not considered serious and not expected to keep him out long term. The Evening Standard has the return date in late September. Six weeks out is not a long-term injury and it is also not this month, so both can be true and the practical answer is the same either way.
Baleba would be Manchester United's fourth signing of the summer, after Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa and Karl Darlow. Hull City v Manchester United kicks off at the MKM Stadium at 12:30 on Saturday 22 August, the earliest match of the opening round, verified against the Premier League's own fixture list and Sky Sports.
So the question Manchester United are answering this week is not whether Carlos Baleba is worth 65m pounds. It is whether a midfielder who arrives in August and plays in October fixes a season or lengthens a squad list.
