{"id":451509,"date":"2025-09-25T23:35:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/451509\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T23:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:35:19","slug":"how-manchester-united-now-feel-about-carlos-baleba-after-his-terrible-start-to-the-2025-26-season-with-brighton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/451509\/","title":{"rendered":"How Manchester United now feel about Carlos Baleba after his terrible start to the 2025\/26 season with Brighton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>An early update on Manchester United\u2019s transfer search for a midfielder heading into 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Manchester United\u2019s summer business was focused on attack, plus a deadline day deal for a goalkeeper. It was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/opinion\/ineos-have-signed-totally-new-spine-for-manchester-uniteds-future-with-one-crucial-missing-piece\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lacking much-needed move for a midfielder<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/transfer-news\/manchester-united-ready-to-test-brighton-resolve-with-record-breaking-carlos-baleba-bid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United expressed interest<\/a> in Brighton\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/tag\/carlos-baleba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Carlos Baleba<\/a>, but the Seagulls were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/transfer-news\/man-utd-receive-response-from-brighton-after-informing-of-intent-to-make-club-record-offer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unwilling to discuss a sale<\/a>, even in the region of \u00a3100 million.<\/p>\n<p>Interest in Baleba has not gone away, despite Carlos Baleba\u2019s woeful form for Brighton this season.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2230470864-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Baleba plays for Brighton\" class=\"wp-image-299500\" \/>Photo by Mike Hewitt\/Getty ImagesCarlos Baleba interest remains<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Baleba is only 21, and Manchester United are excited about his potential. The club\u2019s interest in the Cameroon international <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/transfer-news\/manchester-united-linked-with-midfielder-carlos-baleba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dates back to his time at Lille<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Transfer insider Graeme Bailey reports that Manchester United\u2019s interest in Baleba continues, despite the midfielder\u2019s poor form this season.<\/p>\n<p>Bailey tells <strong>United In Focus<\/strong>: \u201cUnited are already well advanced with their planning for 2026 and midfield is the priority. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t rule out more than one incoming given Casemiro\u2019s likely exit and also the fact that the futures of Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes are far from certain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnited have done work on this area and Baleba is the man who they really think is ideal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are fans of the likes of Adam Wharton, Conor Gallagher, Morten Hjulmand \u2013 let\u2019s not rule out them bringing in two.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBaleba has endured a tough start, but with an injury and links to United \u2013 there is little concern that he remains the best option in the long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"705\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/baleba_united-705x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Baleba infographic\" class=\"wp-image-299536\" \/>Carlos Baleba infographicCarlos Baleba struggles<\/p>\n<p>Brighton boss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/news\/brighton-boss-opens-up-on-impact-of-man-utd-links-on-carlos-baleba-when-you-hear-these-kind-of-things\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fabian Hurzeler has admitted<\/a> that Manchester United\u2019s interest in Baleba has had an unhelpful impact on the midfielder.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitedinfocus.com\/news\/brighton-boss-makes-carlos-baleba-man-utd-transfer-admission-after-taking-him-off-at-half-time-vs-spurs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baleba was hooked at half-time<\/a> in Brighton\u2019s draw against Tottenham, and he also failed to shine even in their Carabao Cup win against Barnsley this week.<\/p>\n<p>Data from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sofascore.com\/football\/player\/baleba-carlos\/1199043?utm_source=unitedinfocus.com&amp;utm_medium=FootballPlayerCard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Sofascore<\/a> highlights how Baleba is averaging just 46 minutes per game this season, despite starting five of seven matches in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>His form is not befitting of a \u00a3100 million midfielder. Manchester United are convinced about him, but if his struggles continue, it will be interesting to see if the stance changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An early update on Manchester United\u2019s transfer search for a midfielder heading into 2026. Manchester United\u2019s summer business&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,117296,393,4884,2465,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-451509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-carlos-baleba","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115267562784914820","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451509","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=451509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}