Brighton are keen to keep hold of Baleba, who is under contract until 2028 with the option of a further 12 months, and warned United it would take a fee around the £115 million ($156 million) Chelsea paid to sign Moisés Caicedo two years ago to get a deal for Baleba over the line.

Hojlund faces the prospect of missing out on the United squad entirely for Sunday's encounter with Arsenal as Joshua Zirkzee has returned to full team training.

According to The Sun, Manchester United will step up their interest in the Denmark international should they fail in their mission to sign Baleba and are preparing a £50m move.