Manchester United Near £65m Deal for Carlos Baleba

Manchester United have struck an agreement worth an initial £65m for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, with the 22-year-old due in Manchester this weekend for a medical.

If everything goes to plan, Baleba will become the third new midfielder through the door this window under Michael Carrick, and the clearest sign yet of how the manager wants his team to look.

Baleba, a natural No 6, is set to anchor a revamped engine room alongside Youri Tielemans, signed as a No 8 for £35m, and Andrey Santos, another holding option who arrived for an initial £48m with up to £2m in add-ons.

Even before a potential extra £5m in bonuses, Baleba will be United’s most expensive recruit of the summer. His arrival would push the club’s total outlay in this window to £148m.

Inside the club, the mood around the deal is buoyant. United tried and failed to land the Cameroon midfielder last summer, when Brighton were looking for a fee closer to the £115m they banked from selling Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea in 2023. This time, Carrick finally has his midfield enforcer at a price United regard as smart business as well as a major footballing upgrade.

Carrick has been clear for weeks about where he believes the heart of any serious side lies. Speaking before the agreement with Brighton was reached, he underlined why United have poured so much resource into the centre of the pitch.

“I think it gives you the foundation of the team, you know,” he said. “I think the foundation of the team is important to be consistent, to be consistent through one game from start to finish, to be consistent over a period of time.

“You need a solid foundation through the middle of the team and trying and putting it together and getting that balance. But certainly, I think if you look at all the top teams over the years, all the great teams over the years, the spine of the team is really strong, you know.

“So we’re conscious of that, and I think we’ve got a good spine of the team right now. We can keep improving as we go in different ways and coaching and helping the boys and developing them, and I think we’re in a good place.”

With Baleba now poised to step into that spine, United are no longer just talking about a new identity in midfield. They are paying heavily to build one.