Sky Sports reports that Manchester United and Brighton are closing in on a full agreement to sign Carlos Baleba, with the deal expected to exceed £60 million. The 22-year-old Cameroon international has reportedly agreed personal terms on a five-year contract running until 2031.
Carlos Baleba Manchester United: the transfer inches forward
He’s now preparing to travel to Manchester for his medical. A minor ankle ligament injury picked up in pre-season won’t hold the move back. Baleba becomes United’s third midfield addition of this transfer window, following Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans into Michael Carrick’s evolving squad at Old Trafford.
Is this deal actually good value?
Here’s the honest answer: yes, but not without legitimate caveats worth addressing head-on.
Carlos Baleba to Manchester United was a saga that dragged across at least two windows. Brighton were asking north of £100 million last summer. United have landed him for a maximum of £65 million including add-ons. That gap is important. Paying £65m instead of £100m-plus isn’t a minor financial footnote; it’s a significant structural saving on a player whose valuation was, frankly, inflated at its peak.
The tactical case is compelling. Carrick’s midfield had a specific hole. Tielemans provides passing range. Santos anchors and shields. Neither of them carries the ball aggressively through the lines or offers elite press-resistance over ground. Baleba does. He recorded 24 interceptions and 58 clearances across 31 Premier League appearances for Brighton in 2025/26, operating at 87% pass completion. Those numbers reflect a player who reads the game quickly even when his final product stays raw.
Critics will point to his 23 starts from 31 appearances and some erratic half-time substitutions under Fabian Hürzeler. Fair. His form wasn’t seamless. But the context matters. United’s interest lingered over him for months, and that kind of background noise rarely helps a 22-year-old stay fully locked in.
Read: Man Utd told to immediately complete signing of £45m Arsenal star
Under Carrick, a midfielder himself, a man who built his own career on positional intelligence, Baleba gets the coaching environment most likely to convert raw athleticism into consistent Premier League output. Paired with Kobbie Mainoo, this Carlos Baleba Manchester United midfield combination has the physical metrics to genuinely shift United’s engine room.
