Man Utd lodge £60m-plus opening bid for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba
Manchester United have submitted a first offer of £60m plus an additional £5m for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba as part of their summer midfield rebuild. Baleba has made 112 appearances for Brighton since joining the club from Lille for £23.2m in August 2023.
United’s midfield reconstruction gathered pace after the club signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa within 24 hours of each other last month, following a five-week period of uncertainty over the final midfield recruit. Candidates extensively linked as the sought-after 'third midfielder' included Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, Bournemouth's Alex Scott and Tyler Adams, Roma's Manu Kone and Fulham's Sander Berge, while United privately played down interest in Baleba despite most of the groundwork being done 12 months earlier. The first bid of £60m plus £5m has been lodged; it is described in the report as unlikely to be sufficient, but talks are continuing and the expectation is the transfer will be completed.
The club’s recruitment and data departments are credited with reshaping Michael Carrick’s midfield after Casemiro was known in January to be leaving when his contract expired on 30 June, and Bruno Fernandes shifted into a more advanced role following Ruben Amorim's exit. Manuel Ugarte is said not to be rated highly despite his £50.8m price tag, which left Kobbie Mainoo as the only experienced midfielder likely to play a prominent part heading into the 2026-27 season.
Profiles of the new and potential midfield options have been highlighted in pre-season: Mainoo excels at taking the ball in tight areas and progressing it, Santos has screened the defence in pre-season, and Tielemans offers composure, a wide passing range and a stated desire to increase his goals output. The weekend defeat by AC Milan in Wroclaw exposed a perceived lack of energy in midfield and a need for a player in the traditional box-to-box mould, a role Baleba is valued for because of his ability to cover ground quickly.
Baleba is carrying an ankle injury sustained in pre-season that is expected to keep him out for another couple of weeks; if the deal proceeds and he recovers, Carrick would gain additional variety alongside existing options that include Mason Mount, Scotland World Cup squad member Tyler Fletcher and, in extremis, Bruno Fernandes. Mount had been considered for the third-midfielder role after strong early pre-season form but he exited the Paris St-Germain game in Gothenburg on 8 August with a foot injury described as 'precautionary' and has yet to return, a situation said to have intensified concerns about his fitness record.
United’s recruitment approach this summer is contrasted with the protracted attempt to sign Frenkie de Jong in 2022, when Erik ten Hag felt certain the deal was possible despite recruitment staff being warned it was not; it was well into August before the club admitted defeat and subsequently triggered a £70m move for Casemiro after defeats by Brighton and Brentford. This summer’s work has been described as more discreet: talk around England’s Elliot Anderson reportedly helped obscure United’s initial midfield targets, the Santos deal was completed within a week and the Tielemans signing in less than that.
The club’s preference for Premier League-proven players is noted: of the four signings in 2025, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens were the only two not bought from Premier League clubs, while Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha settled quickly after their moves. Cunha and Tielemans are said to have had release clauses, whereas Mbeumo, Santos and Baleba did not; acquiring players from richer domestic clubs is portrayed as costing more but reducing the risk of failed adaptation. "We want more, we need more," Carrick stressed last week.
Baleba is not expected to be the final piece of business: the need for a new left-back is described as acute and, although no candidate has been named, the report concludes it is fair to assume United will pursue that signing as well.