![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2182154743.jpg\")
Carlos Baleba is valued at \u00a3100m by Brighton(Image: 2024 Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe latest Manchester United transfer news and speculation has seen Ruben Amorim’s side linked with a move for Brighton midfielder Carlos BalebaCarlos Baleba is valued at \u00a3100m by Brighton(Image: 2024 Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Manchester United know they’re a midfielder away from having a hugely competitive starting XI after addressing some key flaws in their squad. The arrivals of Bryan Mbeumo<\/a>, Matheus Cunha<\/a> and Benjamin Sesko<\/a> have given Ruben Amorim<\/a> a completely new-look starting front three.<\/p>\n They’ll need time to bed into their new surroundings at Old Trafford, but the general consensus is they’re ready-made signings who can have an instant impact. United will want to avoid a repeat of last season’s dismal campaign and the signing of a defensive midfielder could play a major part in that.<\/p>\n Given there’ll be no European football for United this season, they can focus on the Premier League and winning some domestic silverware. Recent transfer speculation linking the club with Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba are exciting links.<\/a><\/p>\n The club is crying out for a holding midfielder who can protect the back three and stop the XI being so vulnerable in transition. However, given Brighton have slapped a reported \u00a3100million asking price on the Cameroonian’s head, the club know they need to offload a number of fringe players before investing that kind of money.<\/p>\n United’s transfer spend already exceeds \u00a3200million and spending that much on one player would be a huge commitment. Which is why Adam Wharton would be a brilliant alternative signing.<\/p>\n Of course, Palace themselves would want a huge transfer fee, previously valued at around \u00a360million. It’s fair to say that his value is only going to increase after shining in the FA Cup-winning run last season and more recently in the Community Shield triumph over Liverpool.<\/p>\n CIES Football Observatory<\/a>, who use a sample of more than 8,000 past transfers, the website evaluates prices of players from the five major European top-flights using the statistical technique of multiple linear regression – with fees paid by clubs as an independent variable<\/a>, believe the former Blackburn Rovers player should be valued more in the region of \u20ac32million (\u00a327.7m) to \u20ac37m (\u00a332m).<\/p>\n Even if United have to pay in excess of \u00a360million, that should be considered a bargain for one of Europe’s top midfielders and a rising star in English football.<\/p>\n The current United ownership have stressed the importance of not making similar mistakes in the transfer market, given their torrid fall from grace. And yet, taking inspiration from the Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford could see them restore their place at England’s top table.<\/p>\n Under Ferguson, United would have the best of English talents – Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick. Wharton has the potential to be right among that calibre of players.<\/p>\n Also just 21-years-old, his best years are ahead of him and if continues to perform as he has for Palace, it’s only a matter of time before a top club comes calling. Manchester United should be at the front of the queue.<\/p>\n Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United<\/a> coverage and analysis.<\/p>\n Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here<\/strong><\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here<\/strong><\/a> to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.<\/p>\n And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify<\/strong><\/a> and Apple Podcasts<\/strong><\/a>, and you can also watch along on YouTube<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest Manchester United transfer news and speculation has seen Ruben Amorim’s side linked with a move for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,423,9060,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-335832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-united-fc","13":"tag-manchester-united-transfer-news","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_GettyImages-2157289886.jpg\")
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton(Image: Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n