Manchester United's Midfield Dilemma: The Case for Carlos Baleba
Manchester United have their pre-season rhythm, their new manager’s imprint, and two fresh midfielders through the door. What they do not yet have is clarity over the player who could anchor the entire project.
Somewhere in that gap sits Carlos Baleba – still waiting, still hoping.
A midfield rebuilt, but not yet complete
The 5-0 dismantling of Rosenborg on Friday underlined the early sharpness of Michael Carrick’s United. Patterns of play are emerging, fitness is building, and the squad is beginning to take shape. Behind the scenes, the rebuild has moved just as briskly.
Youri Tielemans has arrived to add guile and control. Andrey Santos brings energy and upside. Recruitment staff are still working through a busy list: another central midfielder, a left-back, and potentially a forward if an outgoing opens that door.
The priority is obvious. Casemiro has gone. In the modern game, a top-level pivot is not a luxury; it is the hinge on which the entire system swings. United know it. So does Baleba.
The move that never happened
United’s interest in the Brighton midfielder is not new, not speculative, and certainly not casual.
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano revealed that last summer, Baleba pushed hard to make Old Trafford his next step. Personal terms were agreed. The player, then just 21, had his route mapped out in his head. He wanted United. Badly.
Brighton shut it down.
The south-coast club refused to sell, and what United had identified as a “top target” under their previous planning – with Ruben Amorim part of the internal discussions at the time – simply never progressed. The admiration remained, the deal did not.
The January window came and went with Baleba’s name still high on United’s midfield list, but once Amorim and United parted ways over a potential appointment, that track cooled. Other options were explored, other profiles pushed forward. Baleba drifted out of the immediate frame.
Now his name is back in the conversation. Not because United have launched a fresh assault, but because the player’s camp has reopened the line.
Baleba’s camp makes the first move
Romano reports that those close to Baleba have contacted United again, testing the water after other midfield avenues – including a move for Ederson – fell away. The message is clear: if United want to come back in, the door from the player’s side is wide open.
Baleba still dreams of Old Trafford. He has not hidden it in private discussions. For him, this is unfinished business.
United, though, are in no rush. Carrick and the recruitment team are taking their time over what is likely to be their final major midfield addition of the window. They cannot afford to get this one wrong. The role is too central, the investment too heavy.
And heavy it will be. Brighton’s asking price is not yet nailed down, but it is expected to sit north of £70 million. That is elite-money territory, the kind of fee that demands a cornerstone, not a squad piece.
A “monster” in waiting
The price reflects the belief around Baleba’s ceiling.
At Brighton, he has already shown he belongs at Premier League level despite his age. Physically imposing, aggressive in duels, and confident on the ball, he has been described as a “monster” in the holding role – a modern destroyer with the tools to do more than just break play up.
Former Premier League midfielder Charlie Adam has been vocal in his admiration. He picked out Baleba, alongside Yasin Ayari, as standout performers when Brighton won at Old Trafford, praising the Cameroonian’s impact and difference-making profile in the league.
Roberto De Zerbi, who worked closely with him at Brighton before moving to Tottenham, did not hold back either. He publicly backed Baleba to become “one of the best players in the Premier League in the future,” underlining just how highly he is rated by one of the sharpest coaching minds around.
When coaches speak like that, clubs listen. When they speak like that about a 22-year-old already holding his own in the division, valuations climb.
United’s dilemma
So United stand at a familiar crossroads.
On one side, a player who has already agreed personal terms once, whose entourage is again nudging the move, and whose profile – a powerful, athletic holding midfielder with the scope to grow into a dominant Premier League presence – fits the gaping Casemiro-shaped hole in the squad.
On the other, a market that punishes hesitation and rewards decisiveness, but also punishes the wrong £70m call for years.
Carrick’s early work has been smart and targeted. Tielemans and Santos give him variety and depth. Yet the identity of his long-term midfield anchor remains unresolved, and that decision will shape how United defend, how they build, and how they cope with the intensity of a season that will test every inch of the squad.
Baleba is ready. He has made that clear. The question now is simple, and it no longer sits with Brighton or the player’s camp.
Do Manchester United believe that their next great midfield pivot is already waiting for them on the south coast – and are they prepared to pay the price to find out?
