Manchester United Near £65m Deal for Carlos Baleba

Manchester United have struck an agreement worth an initial £65m for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, with the 22-year-old due in Manchester this weekend for a medical.

If all goes to plan, Baleba will become the third new midfielder through the door this window under Michael Carrick, and the most expensive of the lot. The Brighton man, a specialist No 6, is set to slot in behind Youri Tielemans, signed as a No 8, and Andrey Santos, another holding option.

United have already spent heavily to reshape the centre of the pitch. Tielemans arrived for £35m. Santos cost an initial £48m, with a possible £2m in add-ons. Even before a potential extra £5m attached to Baleba’s deal, the Brighton midfielder will stand as United’s priciest recruit of the summer and push the club’s outlay to £148m.

Inside the club, there is real satisfaction at finally getting their man. United tried and failed to land the Cameroon international last summer, when Brighton were holding out for a fee closer to the £115m they banked from selling Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea in 2023. This time, Carrick gets his midfield enforcer at a figure the hierarchy regard as smart business as well as a footballing upgrade.

Carrick has been clear for weeks about where he believes games are won and lost. Speaking before the agreement with Brighton was reached, he underlined just how central a stable core is to his plans.

“I think it gives you the foundation of the team, you know,” he said. “I think the foundation of the team is important to be consistent, to be consistent through one game from start to finish, to be consistent over a period of time.

“You need a solid foundation through the middle of the team and trying and putting it together and getting that balance. But certainly, I think if you look at all the top teams over the years, all the great teams over the years, the spine of the team is really strong, you know.

“So we’re conscious of that, and I think we’ve got a good spine of the team right now. We can keep improving as we go in different ways and coaching and helping the boys and developing them, and I think we’re in a good place.”

Baleba’s arrival, if completed as expected, would harden that spine further and underline where Carrick wants United’s identity to be built: right through the middle of the pitch.