Manchester United offered new hope over late fifth signing to follow Carlos Baleba deal

The Spaniard was among the most high-profile absentees from Hansi Flick’s 21-man travelling group named for Sunday evening’s clash with Elche in Alicante.There have been multiple reports of United’s growing interest in Balde over recent days, with claims that they have already made contact with agent Jorge Mendes to discuss the possible terms of a potential deal.It was reported in Spain on Friday - per Sport Witness - that Mendes had held talks with Barcelona over two more of his clients in Balde and Marc Casado, having travelled to Catalonia initially to finalise Joao Cancelo’s return to the Camp Nou.While it has been suggested that Flick does not want to lose Balde, the 22-year-old’s omission from the squad travelling to Elche on Sunday - alongside fellow transfer candidates Casado and Hector Fort - suggests that United could yet be successful with their approach.Jijantes have also said that the Spanish international wants to leave Barcelona in the final days of the window as Mendes works to find a new club.United are known to be looking for a new left-back as a long-term successor to current incumbent Luke Shaw, who turned 31 last month and is into the final year of his contract at Old Trafford, though the club retain the option to trigger a further 12-month extension.Left-back target: Alejandro Balde could swap Barcelona for Manchester United before the transfer deadlineGettyThere have been tentative rumours about a potential late bid for Hall, though that looks like an impossible deal to get done with just over a week of the market remaining.Other left-backs linked with United of late include RB Leipzig captain David Raum and Jorge Salinas of Racing Santander, the latter of whom is understood to be of interest to Atletico Madrid. Eintracht Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown is also said to be a target.Read MoreBaleba will be United’s fourth senior signing of the summer so far, following the additions of fellow midfielders Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, plus back-up goalkeeper Karl Darlow.