Brighton & Hove Albion 'closing in on £25m Carlos Baleba deal'

Brighton & Hove Albion are reportedly closing in on the signing of Lille midfielder Carlos Baleba.

The 19-year-old has emerged as the Seagulls' top target to replace Moises Caicedo, who was sold to Chelsea for a British-record £115m last week.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi revealed last week that Brighton are working to sign a replacement for Caicedo before the summer transfer window closes and that "many midfielders" are on their radar.

Brighton came forward with an opening offer of €16m (£13.8m) including add-ons for Baleba earlier this month, but that bid was rejected by Lille as they value the teenager closer to €30m (£25m).

According to talkSPORT, the Seagulls have now reached an agreement with Lille to sign Baleba for £25m, fending off competition from Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest in the process.

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Baleba is already understood to have agree personal terms with Brighton, and the report adds that the midfielder is expected to travel to England to undergo his medical.

Born in Cameroon, Baleba began his career with local club Futur Soccer FC before joining the Ecole de Football des Brasseries du Cameroun academy centre at the age of 13.

The midfielder then made his first move to Europe to link up with Ligue 1 side Lille in January 2022 and made nine youth-team appearances during the second half of the 2021-22 season.

Lille manager Paulo Fonseca handed Baleba his senior debut in August 2022 and he went on to make made 19 Ligue 1 appearances last season, including five starts and 14 substitute outings.

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Baleba, who has three years remaining on his contract, has predominantly played as a defensive midfielder at Lille but he has also operated in advanced midfield roles, although he is still waiting to score his first senior goal for the French club.

The youngster started and played for just over an hour in Lille's 1-1 draw with Nice on the opening weekend of the new Ligue 1 season, before coming on as a late substitute in the 2-0 home victory against Nantes on Sunday.

Brighton have already made two midfield signings so far this summer, recruiting Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner on free transfers from Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool respectively, although the latter has played at right-back in their opening two Premier League fixtures.

De Zerbi has also reinforced his squad with the arrivals of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, defender Igor Julio, teenage winger Adrian Mazilu and forward Joao Pedro, who is believed to have joined for a club-record fee.