Manchester United have begun the summer window aiming to improve the attack with confirmation of a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matheus Cunha and a bid for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo.
The club also seems desperate to bring in a number nine, with a move for Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres reportedly gaining traction.
Whilst the Red Devils are understandably focusing on reconstructing their whole attack after a dismal season in front of goal, they must also not forget about the midfield.
With United only playing in domestic competitions, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer may seem like enough options.
Nonetheless, United still lack balance in the middle of the park and would be wise to make a move for Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba.
Who is he?
The Cameroonian moved to the AMEX stadium in 2023 and has taken the Premier League by storm ever since.
The defensive midfielder player 34 Premier League games last season scoring three goals and providing one assist.
The 21 year old really shone in his side’s victory over Manchester City back in November.
“This game in particular, showed off Baleba’s key strengths- physical dominance, elite line-breaking with progressive carries and line-breaking passes (the latter leading to Brighton’s second), and incredible game-reading and intelligence.”
You might argue that United already have a physical player in Ugarte but Baleba is much more of a dictating midfielder and would bring significantly more to the table from a progression side than the Uruguayan.
How would he fit in at United from a tactical perspective?
The Cameroonian is not perfect. He can be prone to over-committing and this can expose a high pressure side. Nonetheless, at 21 years old he has ample time to hone his timing.
Baleba can cover a huge amount of ground, which is incredibly necessary for a Ruben Amorim midfielder.
He could be paired with Ugarte for a tenacious duo or could also cover Mainoo and Casemiro’s lack of physicality.
A previously mentioned, he is a defensive monster who is incredibly mobile. He has 6.5 possession regains per 90 minutes this season and this is the seventh most among all midfielders (who have played a minimum of 900 mins) in the Premier League.
Baleba is so much more than a defensive midfielder though. He plays an incredible amount of forward passes that can break opposition defensive lines.
What’s more, he ranks fourth for progressive carries (in-possession movements that take the ball at least 5 metres upfield) on a per-90-minute basis, with his 6.3 putting him behind only Manchester City and Liverpool players.
Therefore, he would bring ball progression and passing that Amorim’s midfield was sorely lacking last season.
How would he fit in from a transfer profile?
Baleba also fits the club’s current ethos of transfer targets.
He is young at 21 years old but he is also Premier League proven, having excelled for Brighton so far.
Like Cunha and Mbeumo he is a player very much on the rise and will look at United as a furthering of their career and not just a final payday.
There is no question he would be expensive. Transfermarkt state that his value is around €40 million but Brighton would certainly demand significantly more.
Nonetheless, United have proven before that they will spend big on huge youth talents such as Leny Yoro last summer.
Moreover, the club’s PSR situation is better than expected and money could be raised through the sales of players like Antony, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.
All in all, if United have the finances and opportunity to make a deal, Baleba is a no-brainer for a plethora of reasons.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
