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Topics: Brighton And Hove Albion, Manchester United, Premier League, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Transfer News, Transfers
John McDougall
Topics: Brighton And Hove Albion, Manchester United, Premier League, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Transfer News, Transfers
Carlos Baleba was forced to delete a social media post before Brighton & Hove Albion's loss to Manchester United - while the midfielder's actions after the game have now emerged.
The Seagulls suffered a 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford as United won three games for the first time in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim.
Matheus Cunha scored his first goal for United since his summer move from Wolves, before Casemiro's heavily deflected effort doubled the hosts' lead before half-time.
Bryan Mbeumo scored United's third after the hour mark as the hosts appeared to be cruising towards three points.
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However, the Seagulls reduced the deficit through former United attacker Danny Welbeck's free-kick before Charalampos Kostoulas headed home Brighton's second in stoppage time as a nervy finish beckoned at Old Trafford.
However, Mbeumo emphatically fired home his second of the game in injury time to secure a 4-2 win for the hosts.
Baleba started the game but was booked on 41 minutes and then replaced just before the hour mark by veteran James Milner, who later took the corner that Kostoulas scored from.
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Baleba failed to make much of an impact against a club linked with his services over the summer.
United concentrated much of their efforts over the summer transfer window to revamp their attack, bringing in the trio of Cunha, Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.
Goalkeeper Senne Lemmens was also purchased from Royal Antwerp and has since gone on to become United's new number one, displacing Altay Bayindir.
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However, many believe that central midfield is an area of the pitch United need to invest in and bring in more bodies following the departure last summer of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro's contract expiring next summer.
United clearly believe that is the case too and expressed a degree of interest in signing Baleba last summer, whose contract at Brighton runs until the summer of 2028 with the option of an extra 12 months.
However, nothing concrete came of the interest for the 21-year-old, with Brighton reportedly seeking a price similar to the £115m Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo in 2023.
Before yesterday's game, Baleba posted to social media a matchday graphic previewing the encounter, which was captioned with "Coming to Old Trafford" with a laughing face emoji.
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With the caption seen by some as a reference to reports linking him with a move to United, Baleba swiftly deleted the post and reworded it.
And after the game, Baleba was spotted smiling and taking pictures with fans outside of Old Trafford.
Cameroon international Baleba came through the youth team ranks at Lille - where he played with United defender Leny Yoro - before moving to Brighton in 2023 in a deal worth €30m.