Ruben Amorim pushing for Man United to sign Carlos Baleba this summer | OneFootball

Manchester United are actively trying to do a deal for Carlos Baleba in this window, as Ruben Amorim pushes for a midfielder to accelerate his rebuild.

Brighton are understood to want around £120m for the 21-year-old, with owner Tony Bloom generally unmoving as regards such prices. The United hierarchy are currently figuring out how to construct a payment package, with one consideration to offer an initial £80m with the rest made up of add-ons. There would be a will to send a player such as Jadon Sancho the other way, but it is not seen as likely that Brighton go for that.

While United anticipate outgoings in the remainder of the window, their available budget under PSR has been aided so far by the construction of their three big deals so far - Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbuemo, Benjamin Sesko - and how much has been paid in first instalments.

Amorim is insistent on a midfielder to fit the team together, and Baleba has been identified as best fitting the profile they want. A further attraction is that, while he offers exactly what United need right now, he also has huge potential.

If the club cannot get him this summer, they will almost certainly go again next year. The same could be true for United's preferred alternative, Adam Wharton. The club may try for the Crystal Palace defensive midfielder if they cannot get Baleba, but also hold a long-term interest to pair the two together. It is nevertheless anticipated that Wharton could cost even more this summer, with Palace chairman Steve Parish unwilling to do business given that they could yet lose Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze.

United have also looked at Sporting's Morten Hjumland, although there are questions over whether he quite has the physicality for the position they want. Atalanta's Ederson is also admired, albeit in a slightly different role.