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Manchester United have completed the signing of Carlos Baleba from Brighton, a deal worth up to £70m — £65m guaranteed plus £5m in add-ons — on a five-year contract with an option for a further year. It’s United’s third midfield addition of the summer, and arguably the one supporters wanted most.

Why this one’s different

Unlike Santos and Tielemans, this isn’t a fresh name — United have chased Baleba for over a year. Sources say United were quoted a price of more than £100m for him last summer, and Sky Sports have been reporting United’s interest since last autumn, including an enquiry during the January window. The persistence paid off at a lower fee than originally demanded — a rare case of a target actually getting cheaper with patience.

What he adds

Baleba is a different profile to the two midfielders already signed — less about progressive passing, more about defensive control. Last season he ranked in the top eight per cent of Premier League players for combined tackles and interceptions, and the top one per cent for second balls won, the kind of ball-winning platform that lets a more creative midfielder like Tielemans or Fernandes operate freely ahead of him. He’s a Cameroon international who arrived at Brighton from Lille in 2023 and made 92 Premier League appearances there.

The catch

He won’t feature immediately. Baleba is currently injured after picking up an ankle knock in pre-season, with a return targeted for mid-September — notably in time for the derby against Manchester City on September 13. Given United’s set-piece and defensive fragility exposed against Hull, a ball-winning midfielder sitting out the next few fixtures is a frustrating wait, even if the long-term fit looks right.

The bigger picture

United’s spending on midfield reinforcements alone now exceeds £150m this window Santos, Tielemans, and Baleba together represent one of the most significant midfield rebuilds in the Premier League this summer. On paper, it directly answers the control-and-legs problem that’s dogged this midfield since Casemiro’s decline. Whether it answers the defensive organization problem shown against Hull is a separate question — Baleba’s tackling numbers help, but he can’t fix a team’s shape from the treatment table.

Verdict: The right signing, arguably a year late and about to be delayed further by injury. If he returns fit for the City derby, this is the piece that could turn the midfield rebuild from promising into genuinely dangerous.

Bruno Fernandes is the PFA players’ player of the year for 2025/26 as voted by his peers

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