Liverpool are ready to jump on Brighton’s pursuit of Carlos Baleba as their Moises Caicedo replacement.
Teenager Baleba is currently with Lille but has been recognised by Brighton as the man they want to come in after selling Caicedo to Chelsea. However, as yet they have not met Lille’s £30m asking price.
Nottingham Forest and Brentford have also held talks, whilst Aston Villa and Newcastle are also keeping tabs on him.
Liverpool recently agreed to sign Caicedo from Brighton in a deal that would have broken the British transfer record. However, the Ecuador international rejected the Reds in favour of signing for Chelsea.
As such, Liverpool and Brighton both now have Caicedo-shaped holes to fill in their midfields. For Jurgen Klopp’s side, it is a case of finding a replacement for Fabinho after his move to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Brighton, meanwhile, are looking for their latest midfield addition after bringing in James Milner from Liverpool themselves (having lost Alexis Mac Allister the other way in a separate deal) and Mahmoud Dahoud from Borussia Dortmund.
Baleba broke into the Lille first team last season, making 21 appearances across all competitions. Still only 19 years old, he is under contract with the French Ligue 1 outfit until 2026.
Fabrizio Romano reported earlier on Tuesday that Brighton had made a bid of €17m plus €3m in add-ons for the Cameroonian starlet. In English money, the package could have surpassed £17m. However, it fell short of Lille’s asking price.
