Brighton & Hove Albion have opened talks with Lille over the transfer of midfield starlet Carlos Baleba, 90min understands.
Baleba is regarded as one of the top young midfield prospects in Ligue 1 and Brighton are one of several sides who have been following him for months.
90min revealed in March that they were one of a number of Premier League clubs who were scouting the highly-rated teenager.
With Moises Caicedo ready to depart the club for Chelsea for a British-record £115m fee, Brighton are looking for his replacement and they have opted for Baleba.
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Cameroon-born Baleba has been with Lille since 2022 when they picked him up from the Ecole de Football des Brasseries academy. He quickly progressed into the first-team and helped replace Amadou Onana last summer after he joined Everton. Now, Baleba is set to follow in Onana’s foot-steps to the Premier League.
Sources have confirmed to 90min that Lille are looking for a fee of around €30m (£25.8m) and a deal is now close between the two clubs, with his representatives finalising personal terms.
Baleba featured in Lille’s opening game of the season on Friday as they claimed a 1-1 draw at Nice, but that is set to be his final appearance for the club ahead of a move to Brighton this week.
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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the ever-changing Moises Caicedo saga, Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich and more!
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