Aspinall's Bold Brighton Blueprint: Mount for Baleba?

Warren Aspinall has never been shy of an opinion, and the former Brighton midfielder has a clear idea of how his old club should play the Carlos Baleba situation: if Manchester United come calling again, use it to prise Mason Mount out of Old Trafford.

Baleba spent much of last season wrestling with his form under Fabian Hürzeler, the sharp upward curve of his first campaign flattening just as United’s interest cooled. A move to Old Trafford in the summer of 2025 looked close at one stage, then vanished. His performances followed the same trajectory.

Mount, on the other hand, has been stuck in his own holding pattern. Since swapping Chelsea for Manchester United in 2023, the England international has struggled to find rhythm or fitness, watching his status slip as new faces have arrived.

For Aspinall, that collision of circumstances should set alarm bells – and opportunity – ringing at the Amex.

“I was thinking – if Baleba did go to Manchester United then I'd see if I could get Mason Mount as part of the deal,” he told the Albion Unlimited podcast, sketching out a scenario that would have raised eyebrows a couple of years ago but now feels far less far-fetched.

United’s recent business underlines his point. They have just brought in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos to reinforce a midfield already built around Kobbie Mainoo. That trio, Aspinall argues, will form the core.

“He's not going to be in the side because they've just signed two midfield players in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos,” Aspinall said. “Those two and Kobbie Mainoo will be starters, so where does that leave Mount? They have good players coming through in the likes of Tyler Fletcher.”

It is a blunt assessment of Mount’s situation. A player once central to Chelsea’s plans now risks becoming collateral in United’s midfield rebuild, squeezed by big signings and emerging academy talent.

For Brighton, that profile is usually a red flag: high wages, big reputation, resale value uncertain. Yet Mount at his best presses relentlessly, links play, and adds goals from midfield – traits that would fit neatly into Hürzeler’s aggressive, front-foot approach if the numbers could somehow work.

There is, however, a sizeable catch. At the moment, United are the only club with serious, repeated links to Baleba. And after a mixed season, there is every chance the 21-year-old doesn’t move at all.

If that happens, Aspinall believes the responsibility swings back firmly onto Hürzeler.

“For Baleba, the manager has to sit him down in a one-to-one situation and say, ‘look, just get your head down, do what you did not last season but the season before, and they will all come for you then’,” he said.

The message is simple: forget the noise, rediscover the player who first caught the attention of the Premier League’s elite.

“They would all be after him because he's excellent. He's strong, powerful, breaks the lines very well. It was easy for him in certain games.”

That version of Baleba – the one who storms through the middle third, shrugs off challenges and drives Brighton up the pitch – looked every inch a future Champions League midfielder. The version that followed the transfer talk looked distracted.

“Sometimes you get a sniff from a club like Manchester United and you start to think about that big move and big payday but it has not happened,” Aspinall said. “You have to get your head down, go again, and see where it takes him.”

This is the crossroads. Stay, and he becomes the heartbeat of Brighton’s midfield again. Drift, and he risks being remembered as another talent who lost a year to speculation.

“If he does stay he needs to knuckle down and he can have a great season at Brighton,” Aspinall insisted. “If he plays well, Brighton play well because he wins that midfield battle. If he is at the top of his game he makes his team-mates believe.”

So the picture is clear. One midfielder fighting to reclaim his spark on the south coast. Another, once a marquee signing at Old Trafford, suddenly staring at the bench.

If United return for Baleba, Brighton will have a decision to make. Do they cash in on a raw, powerful talent and try to revive Mount’s career by the sea, or double down on a player Aspinall still sees as the engine of Hürzeler’s project?

The next move, from Manchester or from Brighton, will tell everyone exactly how much both clubs really believe in their midfield futures.