Man Utd sent strong message on Carlos Baleba as Brighton chief speaks out on midfielder's future amid talk of £100m transfer

United, per Sky Sports, are trying to sign Baleba in the January transfer window. The club are said to have sounded the midfielder out over a move, having also attempted to sign him in the summer. Fabrizio Romano claimed in December that United have "not stopped discussing" the idea of signing the midfielder, who had an asking price in excess of £100 million ($135m), ahead of the window. In January, though, United are said to understand that a deal is incredibly difficult and is not expected to progress before the summer window.

Now, Barber has claimed that he and the Brighton hierarchy have no desire to let Baleba leave, either in the January window or in the summer, even if he does accept that he will likely have interested parties given his talent.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: "No call from Old Trafford. No call from anyone connected to Manchester United. We have no plans or desire to sell Carlos in this window, or in any future window, but we know he's a talented player and he's got a lot of options ahead of him in the future. For us right now, he's an important player in the second half of the season and we're looking forward to getting him back from AFCON."

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Speaking about the speculation over his move to United in the summer, he said: "I don’t think it affected me negatively, but I had a lot of pressure on me. When I started this season, I wanted to show the same performances as last season. Every day I try to work hard and get back to my level. Did I put too much pressure on myself? Yes, I think so, but I think it’s good. It’s good for me, because now I have to get through this slightly stressful period, get back on the horse, and continue working hard."

Ruben Amorim, United's manager, has said that the club will only enter the market for the "perfect" player in January.

He said: “The only thing that we will try to bring now – and in the end of the season – are players that are perfect for our future,” Amorim said ahead of United’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

“It's not going to be to save something in this moment, to cope with the losses of three players for AFCON. It’s not going to be like that. Even if we try to bring one player, maybe it's not the position that we need more. So I don't know what is going to happen, but it's possible that we can do something.

“I’m just focused on the next game. Let's go step by step. We have a big match. We need to win. We need to try to find different ways of playing, especially without Amad and Bryan. We lost some characteristics that are hard to find.”

United are likely to continue scouting Baleba throughout the remainder of the season. 

In the summer, owner Tony Bloom confirmed United's interest, but said they did not ever come close to matching their valuation. 

He said: “There was interest from Manchester United, and we said that he wasn't available this summer and they went away. So we've had many bigger sagas in the past. But Carlos Baleba, his improvement has been immense. Massively important player to this football club, and just delighted that he's with us for this season.”