BRIGHTON have reportedly agreed a deal with Lille for Carlos Baleba as they try to replace Moises Caicedo.
The Seagulls lost their star midfielder after he moved to Chelsea in a British record £115million deal.
Brighton fetched a massive profit on the Ecuadorian’s sale, having only paid £5m for him in 2021.
Chelsea managed to complete the transfer after Caicedo rejected a possible move to Liverpool.
The South Coast side have already added to their midfield options this summer with James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud on free transfers.
However, manager Roberto De Zerbi has insisted that the club sign an outright replacement for Caicedo.
Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, the club are close to bringing that man in.
He claims that Brighton have agreed a £26m deal to sign Baleba from Lille.
The report also suggests that personal terms have been agreed upon and that a medical has been booked for the Cameroonian.
The 19-year-old made 19 appearances for the Ligue 1 side last season as he became a regular in the first team.
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Lille are planning to sign former Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb as a replacement for Baleba.
On Thursday, Lille president Olivier Letang said: “Nabil passed additional examinations.
“We are awaiting the position of this group of experts and our medical staff to find out if we will be able to finally welcome and sign his contract.
“We’ll know pretty quickly now. We’re counting on Nabil, we’ve got a lot closer over the past month, it’s a special test.
“Now we have to wait a few hours, a few days.”
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