Manchester United tried to buy Carlos Baleba last summer and walked away when Brighton asked for more than £100m. A year on, and three days after losing 2-0 at Hull City, they have got him for £70m.
The structure is £65m up front with a further £5m in add-ons, and Brighton have kept a sell-on clause. Baleba, who is 22, has signed for five years with the option of a sixth.
"It is an incredible feeling to join the club of my dreams," he said. "I cannot wait to work with Michael Carrick. His experience and knowledge of the game make him the perfect coach to help me to reach the highest level."
A third midfielder, and the one they actually wanted
Andrey Santos came from Chelsea. Youri Tielemans came from Aston Villa. Both made their United debuts at Hull on Saturday, and the game told you what the summer so far had not fixed: this midfield can pass but it cannot bully anybody.
Baleba is the answer to that specific problem. In 2024-25, the season that made United want him, he ranked fourth among Premier League midfielders for possessions won in the middle third with 107, and fourth for interceptions with 46. Fifth for ball recoveries. Seventh for duels won. He hit a top speed of 34.5km/h that year; Casemiro's was 30.5.
What he is not is a passer who dictates. Only 11.8% of his passes broke a line and 22.7% went forward, both below average for his position. That reads worse than it is. Tielemans can do the progressive distribution. Baleba's job is to win it, carry it — 6.7 progressive carries per 90, one of the highest figures in the division — and hand it to somebody else.
The awkward bits
He is injured. An ankle problem picked up at Brighton's pre-season camp in Austria means United have bought a player they cannot pick yet, and match sharpness will take a while after that.
Last season was also flat by his standards. He played 31 Premier League games as Brighton finished eighth and qualified for the Conference League, but the numbers dipped from the year before. United are betting on the 2024-25 version.
Bruno Fernandes, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, sounded like a captain managing expectations. "A huge talent that the club has been trying to follow for a long time," he said. "We know he is a player we need to give time to become an even better version of himself."
What he left behind
Baleba arrived at Brighton from Lille in 2023, aged 19, and made 112 appearances with four goals. His farewell video went somewhere most of them don't.
"There was a night against Aston Villa when I came off after 22 minutes," he said. "I sat in the dugout and could not lift my head up. You did not boo me. I have thought about that more than you know."
United's summer outlay is now £153m. Only Paul Pogba has cost them more as a midfield signing. Champions League football returns to Old Trafford for the first time since 2023-24, and Carrick has to make all of this look deliberate.
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