Manchester City scouts left ‘impressed’ by Brighton midfielder following January scouting mission | OneFootball

Officials at Manchester City are said to be ‘impressed’ by Brighton’s Carlos Baleba having monitored the player’s performances in person earlier this year.

It is the latest development concerning the four-in-a-row Premier League champions and what is anticipated to be a busy summer transfer window for the club as Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain plot the next generation of Pep Guardiola’s squad.

After a difficult season marred by high-profile injury and fitness problems, there is a common belief within the club that the playing squad requires quite a significant revamp, with four new arrivals brought in during the January market alone.

And with Kevin De Bruyne starting the exits from Manchester City after the club opted not to extend the Belgian’s contract beyond this summer, much of the focus is likely to be placed on central midfield with the arrivals of more than one name.

There has been plenty of attention placed on Manchester City’s interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, but with German media insisting upon the player having already agreed to a Bayern Munich move, eyes may need to be refocussed onto other targets.

Elsewhere in the middle of the park, City are targeting Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and a new report has tied the club with admiration in another name excelling within the Premier League.

That is according to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, who reveals that Manchester City had scouts watching Carlos Baleba during one of Brighton’s matches back in January, and the 21-year-old is a player they are said to be ‘impressed’ with.

The Cameroonian star is ‘definitely on a list’ at Manchester City, although it is warned that a player of his quality would likely be regarded as the same within all top clubs at present given his showings on the south coast this season.

As for previous interest in Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton, it is claimed City had ‘flirted’ with bidding for the Englishman in January although no move materialised. Real Madrid are revealed to have attended some of his recent games ahead of the FA Cup final this month.

Brighton & Hove Albion only secured the signing of Carlos Baleba during the August transfer window of 2023, agreeing a five-year contract with the former Lille man via a transfer fee of €27 million plus a maximum of €3 million in add-ons.

Interest from Manchester City and a possible high-profile move for Baleba will also impact Lille too, with the French side having agreed a 15 per cent sell-on clause with the Seagulls as part of the deal two summer markets ago.

For now, it remains to be seen just how much Brighton would value one of the star players at with Manchester City lurking in the background, although their reputation as fine negotiators would leave many expecting an astronomical fee to be discussed.