Bayern Munich are reportedly interested in signing Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, whose ‘exorbitant’ asking price has decreased after Manchester United failed with a bid in the summer.

According to tzmuenchenjournalist Philipp Kessler, Bayern are keen on signing a replacement for Leon Goretzka, but face competition from Man Utdand Man City.

Carlos Baleba’s 2025/26 PL statistics

• 4 yellow cards in 12 starts
• 15 interceptions (=22nd)
• 14 tackles (=132nd)
• 7 passes blocked (=95th)
• 20 progressive passes (=189th)
• 3 key passes (=214th)
• 0 goals, 0 assists

Ruben Amorim’s side failed to sign the Cameroonian internationalin August after Brighton asked for over ￡100million.

The Red Devils spent around ￡230m last summeras Amorim drastically improved his forward line with the signings of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

Despite spending a fortune, Amorimwent into the season lacking sufficient depth in central midfield.

Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro are his preferred midfield duo, with Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte playing back-up.

It’s clear that Man Utd are lacking an elite defensive-minded midfielder, though Casemiro has massively improved under Amorim, and Balebawould be a perfect addition.

READ: Transfer power ranking: Guehi, Baleba, Anderson among non-Big Six stars most likely to leave in 2026

Out-of-form Baleba is what Man Utd need

Baleba was definitely viewed as the perfect midfield signing before he failed to get his move. His performances for Brightonthis season have been very poor by his high standards, as you can tell by the statistics above.

The 21-year-old has obviously been negatively affected by all of the noise, and that’s come across on the pitch.

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler touched on this in September. He said: “When a young boy reads there is interest from Manchester United with a big, big offer, it might affect him deep, deep (down). That’s also part of the development to understand that when you play well, there comes a big offer, there comes a big club who wants to have him.

“But then to keep pushing, to be humble, stay here in Brighton, and try to make the next step with the team and that’s something we have to keep on working with him and therefore I can’t give you a clear answer if it’s really affected him or not.

“But for sure, he’s a young boy and we need to understand he’s not a machine that if you click on then he always runs and off then he stops. We need to understand his feelings, his emotions, where he comes from, and that’s our responsibility.”

In fairness to Baleba, he looked much improved in Wednesday’s Premier League defeat to Aston Villa, who are now third in the table.

The best of Baleba! ??????? pic.twitter.com/BbmoZ7pF9v

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) October 9, 2023

Man Utd target Baleba now available for ￡74m

Baleba’s form hasn’t deterred Bayern from registering their interest, but it looks like Brighton have tempered their expectations by lowering the youngster’s asking price to ￡74m.

That is according to German journalist Kessler, who says Baleba is ‘on their radar’ and ‘shortlist’ as Goretzka’s contract expires at the end of the season.

Despite Baleba’s valuation being lower than it was in the summer, Bayern are unsure whether to pay that.

It’s not confirmed, but you’d expect Brighton’s ￡74m asking price only to apply in the summer transfer window, not in January.

It’s also claimed that Man Citycould join the race for Baleba. The report states:

Last summer, Manchester United made a bid for Baleba. However, the Red Devils were deterred by the exorbitant transfer fee of around €100million. According to ESPN, Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, is also a fan of Baleba.

Reportedly, Brighton could be open to offers starting at €85million in 2026. It’s questionable whether Bayern would spend that much money on him.

Currently, Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic are the established midfielders. Tom Bischof is considered a future prospect.

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