Manchester United Secure Carlos Baleba for £70m Midfield Overhaul

Manchester United have pushed ahead with their midfield rebuild, sealing a deal worth up to £70m (€81m) for Brighton’s Carlos Baleba.

The Cameroon international becomes the third midfielder through the door this summer, following Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. United have targeted energy and depth in the centre of the pitch, and Baleba, 20, fits the brief: powerful, aggressive, and comfortable driving play from deep.

His arrival underlines the scale of United’s reset in that area of the pitch. With three new signings competing for places, the battle for minutes in midfield is about to get ruthless at Old Trafford.

Celtic cruising, Scales on the bench

Elsewhere, Celtic are back in Champions League qualifying action tonight against LASK, taking a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg into the return fixture. It’s a night that should be about managing the tie and finishing the job.

Liam Scales has to be patient. The defender starts on the bench, watching on as Celtic look to protect – or even extend – their advantage and move one step closer to the group stages.

Parrott waits, Cucho keeps his place

Over in Spain, the spotlight is drifting towards the Mestalla, where Real Betis travel to face Valencia in La Liga. Irish eyes, in particular, are locked on one name: Troy Parrott.

Parrott does not start.

Cucho Hernández keeps his place up front after an 11-goal La Liga campaign last season, leading the line again for Betis. With Antony nailed down on one wing and Rodrigo Riquelme on the other, the Colombian remains the man to dislodge through the middle.

Betis, Champions League participants this season, opened their league campaign with a win over Real Sociedad thanks to a Riquelme strike. The front three that delivered that result have earned another go.

Betis build the Parrott buzz

Team sheet or not, Betis are in no mood to dampen the excitement around their new striker.

The club’s social media team have been busy, firing out two Parrott-themed posts in the space of five minutes: one showcasing his pristine No 19 jersey, the other a shot of a young fan holding a flag emblazoned with the message, “what’s the craic Troy?”

The message is clear. Betis know they have a player who moves the needle.

Parrott’s La Liga leap

For anyone somehow missing the news, Parrott completed his move from AZ Alkmaar to Real Betis last week, swapping the Netherlands for one of Spain’s most demanding stages. Ireland’s hat-trick hero from Budapest could make his La Liga debut tonight at the Mestalla, even if it comes from the bench.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has already opened the door.

“Troy has not been working with us for a long time,” Pellegrini said. “He joined us only a day before the last game. But he has been working hard and he is on the list because he is ready to play.”

Ready. That’s the key word. Not guaranteed minutes, not guaranteed a start – but ready.

Forsaking England to find himself

Parrott’s journey to this point has not followed the usual English-football ladder, and that’s exactly the point. As Gavin Cooney has charted, leaving the English system has been the making of him.

“Forsaking English football has been the making of Parrott,” Cooney wrote, detailing how the Eredivisie gave the forward the space and style he needed to grow. The tempo suited him, the noise dropped, and the pressure eased just enough for his talent to breathe.

“Trying to live up to the hype at such a young age, it was never going to happen that early because football isn’t so easy,” Parrott said in 2024. “For me it was more about growing up a bit and trying to block out the noise.”

Now the noise is back, only in a different language and a different league. The scrutiny will come again, but so will the chances.

From Championship talk to Champions League reality

The challenge in Seville is clear. To start regularly, Parrott has to shift a proven La Liga goalscorer in Cucho Hernández from centre stage. That’s no small task, yet it is a far better dilemma than staring at another year of Championship football with West Ham.

Betis, with Champions League nights on the horizon and a fanbase that adores a cult hero, offer a platform and a pressure cooker rolled into one.

Parrott is on the list. The jersey is printed. The Mestalla awaits.

How long before he forces his way from social-media buzz to automatic starter?