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BBC Sussex journalist Johnny Cantor has said Brighton will "probably be looking for £70m" for midfielder Carlos Baleba, who is set to join Manchester United..

"There's certainly no surprise in terms of everybody on the south coast has known of the interest in Carlos Baleba from Manchester United and I think people know that the player himself is quite determined to get to Old Trafford as quickly as possible," Cantor told BBC Radio Manchester.

"Probably an indication of that is the fact that he seems to have agreed personal terms a long time ago. It's more a case of coming up with the right fee. It did feel like his form dropped a little bit when the interest came in and maybe his head was distracted, he is still quite a young man so that may have been inevitable.

"It's all about whether the price is right when it comes to Brighton and selling their best assets.

"£70m would probably be where they are looking for. Brighton never actually name a figure at all. They will have a figure in mind but they will not divulge it. Until that figure is met, they will not sell. That price may have dropped over the last year or so depending on his form but I think they will be looking for something around the £70m mark."

Cantor provided an update on Baleba saying his ankle ligament injury is "not too serious" so Manchester United shouldn't "be unduly concerned about his availability".

Cantor added: "He's an undoubted talent, people always talk about him as this sitting midfielder and I don't necessarily see him as that. He is actually very powerful, he likes to drive forward. The only question marks over him is his mentality. It's such a huge move. The question is, will he be able to handle that - the weight of the Manchester United shirt?

"I don't think all three parties will want this one to go on because they were pushing for it a good eight months ago so it will be interesting to see whether it finally gets over the line."

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Last season: 8th

This season: 9th

There is European football back at Brighton this season in the Conference League, and that will put added workload on Fabian Hurzeler's squad - but it will be relished at this well-run club.

Danny Welbeck's goals and experience will be a loss, along with the retired James Milner and Tottenham recruit Jan Paul van Hecke, but Brighton feel they have pulled off a special deal by signing young defender Luka Vuskovic from Spurs for £46m.

Pascal Struijk's arrival from Leeds adds defensive experience, and with plenty of quality elsewhere, Amex Stadium will again be an entertaining place to be this season.

• Read more of Phil's predictions

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Teams in the bottom half of the Premier League in 2025-26 finished with more points than they had in years, meaning that judging them simply by their position in the table is perhaps a little harsh.

Everton may have been underwhelmed with their 13th-place finish but it was the most points a team in that position had finished with since the Toffees themselves in 1999-2000.

The points of the four places below them were all the highest they have been in the Premier League for 23 years and West Ham can consider themselves unlucky to have gone down with the highest points total for an 18th-placed side since 2010-11.

However, competition has come at a cost.

One place where the Premier League has become less competitive - because it has become more fiercely-contested overall - is at the very bottom.

While it is almost expected for one side to be cut adrift long before the end of the season, nowadays two sides are getting left behind.

The average points tally of the second-bottom side in a 38-game season is 31, meaning teams that finish there have usually competed in a relegation battle for most of the season before ultimately falling short.

After the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, only two 19th-placed sides failed to reach 30 points in the first 21 seasons. But in the past decade, seven of the 10 sides to finish in that position have failed to do so.

In the past two seasons, promoted sides Ipswich and Burnley have both finished there with just 22 points - the fewest ever taken by a second-bottom side.

Relegation battles are now mostly a fight to see who takes the final spot in the bottom three, with the other two accounted for long before the final day - often by promoted sides.

But inspired by the survival of Sunderland and Leeds, promoted trio Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City will all be hoping they have what it takes to match the competitiveness of the Premier League this season.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler and captain Lewis Dunk have been speaking to the media before Thursday's Europa Conference League qualifier against Tromso at Romssa Arena (kick-off 18:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from Hurzeler's news conference:

• Carlos Baleba – the subject of an approach from Manchester United – Kaoru Mitoma and Stefanos Tzimas are doubtful starters due to injury and Yankuba Minteh is out.

• There could be starts for new signings Pascal Struijk, Luka Vuskovic and Promise David.

• Hurzeler says Tromso's style of play is "very impressive", particularly the intense nature of their press.

• He urged his side to take the final step in qualifying for the Conference League: "There's a big opportunity for us. The boys worked hard through the whole of last season and we went through a lot of highs and lows together, but we always showed resilience. This is the reward and now it's up to us that we will finish this work by being successful in these two games."

And Seagulls captain Dunk told reporters:

• The club's players have paid for a refund of tickets for the 407 fans travelling to the game in northern Norway. Gifts of scarves and t-shirts will also be issued to travelling supporters.

• He said: "The fans didn't know where they were going until the last minute. It's a long trip for the them, last minute to organise. We thought we want to start the season off well for the fans and make a gesture by refunding their tickets as a group. "Hopefully the fans appreciate this gesture from the players and it's a good start to a good season with them and we can all enjoy it along the way."

• Dunk also played down the significance of Tromso's artificial pitch, stating: "The ball bounces and moves differently to playing on grass, but 80% of the squad probably grew up playing on that. Hopefully, with a bit of water on it, the ball will move quickly."

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