Man Utd complete midfield spending with Baleba as attention turns to left-back
Manchester United completed their midfield rebuild with the signing of Carlos Baleba, part of a £155m summer revamp, the club announced on 25 August 2026, days after their shock opening-weekend defeat at Hull.
Midfield had been identified as a priority at the end of last season as United sought to build on qualification for the Champions League after a two-year absence; Baleba joins Andrey Santos, a £48m signing from Chelsea, and £35m former Aston Villa man Youri Tielemans, alongside England's Kobbie Mainoo. The quartet gives Manchester United a spread of attributes across the four-man midfield, three of whom are aged 22 or younger. The pressure on the squad was visible after the Hull loss when Michael Carrick exchanged words with former Middlesbrough and Swindon Town forward Jan Aage Fjortoft, now a TV presenter for Viaplay, to which Carrick replied: "Come on, that's ridiculous," replied Carrick. "You played football. You understand. That's a ridiculous thing to say."
With midfield reinforcements in place, Manchester United supporters and officials have shifted focus to left-back, where Luke Shaw started all 38 Premier League games in the 2025-26 season and again at Hull. Of United's past 44 league games, Shaw failed to start just one — the final game of the 2024-25 campaign, four days after the Europa League final defeat by Tottenham — and he subsequently went on the post-season tour of Asia. That run followed spells of injury; between February 2024 and April 2025 he played as many games for England (three) as he did for his club, and he missed three months at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
Shaw's recent heavy workload and earlier calf and hamstring issues, plus a perception that Erik ten Hag rushed his recovery, have fuelled calls for cover at left-back. The reporting notes Shaw benefited from a 40-game season with more recovery time between fixtures, a pattern unlikely to repeat: although there are blank midweeks between United's first three games, if they progress through two EFL Cup rounds they will not have a full midweek without a game, other than during international breaks, until the one that includes Christmas Day.
Manchester United have shown interest in Newcastle's England defender Lewis Hall, who is 21, but Newcastle are reluctant to sell and would require a large offer; United's decision-makers have demonstrated this summer they will not be held to ransom or overpay. Financial disclosures in published third-quarter accounts to 31 March show United owed £405.75m in outstanding transfer fees, £171.14m of which was due after more than one year, and the club confirmed they borrowed $125m (£91.64m) in a wider refinancing announced in June without outlining how that sum will be used. The assumption cited in reporting is that Baleba cost £70m, a figure equal to the sum United paid for Casemiro in 2022 and only exceeded for a midfielder by the club-record £89m spent on Paul Pogba.
Other left-back options mentioned include Racing Santander's 19-year-old Jorge Salinas, who has a €16m (£13.7m) release clause but is also desired by Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona's Alejandro Balde, who was left out of Barcelona's 5-0 La Liga win over Elche by coach Hansi Flick to allow him to "clear his mind" amid intense transfer speculation, with United among those linked; Barcelona are said to value Balde between €30m (£25.66m) and €40m (£34.22m). Joshua Zirkzee was an unused substitute in United's defeat at Hull, and with one week to go before the transfer window closes the situation is described as fluid; the club stresses caution around expectations of signing a new left-back and says a significant sale could alter the dynamic.
Squad movement appears constrained: Marcus Rashford's departure has "virtually been ruled out" with confirmation he will wear the number nine shirt this season, and the anticipated exit of Manuel Ugarte was abandoned when he was injured at the World Cup. Within Carrick's senior squad, Joshua Zirkzee is viewed as surplus to requirements, while fitness doubts over Amad Diallo — amid a report he could be out for up to six weeks and with the club offering no clarification on his status — make any potential sale uncertain. Carrick also has internal options at left-back: Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui have switched flanks previously, Baleba is left-footed and has played at full-back for Brighton, and 19-year-old Harry Amass, Shaw's back-up in pre-season, remains at the club though he was not included in the Hull squad and is expected to leave either permanently or on loan.
Most observers still expect another left-back to arrive before the transfer window closes on 1 September, but reporting stresses that a signing is far from certain and could depend on sales or a change in circumstance before that deadline.