Fabrizio Romano reported earlier on Tuesday that Brighton had made a bid of €17m plus €3m in add-ons for the Cameroonian starlet but that falls short of Lille’s asking price of £30m.
Baleba broke into the Lille first team last season, making 21 appearances across all competitions. Still only 19 years old, he is under contract with the French Ligue 1 outfit until 2026.
Teamtalk report that Liverpool have an interest in the midfielder and will join the race with Brighton as Jurgen Klopp looks to add another to his squad before the transfer window shuts.
In addition to these two clubs, there is other interest from the Premier League in the form of Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Aston Villa and Newcastle.
Brighton are clearly leading the race but will likely need to get close or match Lille’s asking price to make the deal happen..
