It was a long time coming. After the saga of last summer that saw neither party seek their desired outcome, Manchester United have now signed Carlos Baleba. United, and Brighton & Hove Albion, eventually came to an agreement on the fee, with United coughing up £65m, with £5m in potential add-ons. Baleba is a another necessary addition to United’s midfield, offering complementary qualities, further developing the changing midfield landscape at Old Trafford.
United were so impressed with Baleba’s 2024/25 campaign that they made it a task of signing him. But what cannot be ignored is the dip in form that came last season. Going onto say that “Last season was hard”, Baleba dealt with off field matters, injuries, and possibly the move to United not initially panning out at the back of his mind.
Even with this set of circumstances, Baleba enjoyed a better end to the campaign, and it was reported United continued to monitor Baleba. Before signing Baleba, deals for Ederson, and Aurelian Tchouameni did not go through, and United signed both Youri Tielemens and Andrey Santos. Now in comes Baleba, a very good midfielder, who has all the potential to become even better.
Currently on the mend from an ankle injury, United will not be able to embed Baleba into first-team action until September. But they will already know that Baleba is a combative midfielder who offers quality both on and off the ball. Baleba is there to win the ball back, and can then bring the ball forward.
Where Baleba stands out most is his tackling, and his ability to recover possession. Whilst there was a decline last season, Baleba still managed 2 tackles per 90, a duel success rate of 47.4%, and 8.4 defensive actions per 90.
The midfielder’s prowess when winning the ball back is amplified by how quick off the mark Baleba is. He is quick to pounce on loose balls, and can get a leg across when making challenges. Baleba often gets his foot to the ball quickly as players look to change direction in 1v1 situations.
Also quick over longer distances, Baleba is very useful when defending against counter-attacks. Against Fulham last season, a corner-kick was cleared out from the penalty-area, with Kevin trying to force a counter-attack.
But Baleba was able to keep up, and dispossessed the winger, and sending the ball to the nearest defender. This showed excellent recovery speed, as well as being able to read the situation for what it was.
Baleba’s speed and coverage of ground could make things easier for United when recovering the ball in defensive transition. With United often defending in a 4-4-2 shape under Michael Carrick, the two midfielders often have to defend more space. Baleba would complement any one of Tielemens, Santos, or Kobbie Mainoo.
Able to burst across to either side of the pitch, Baleba can close down wide players receiving passes from deeper areas. He essentially eats up ground, which can compensate for other midfielders who may not be able to. This is an invaluable asset, but perhaps United need to be careful in putting too much responsibility on Baleba.
Sometimes Baleba may push forward to press higher up the pitch. Closing down opposing players trying to progress the ball out of their own half. For example, Brighton’s 3-0 win against Chelsea in April, Baleba darted across to cut out a pass to Pedro Neto after Chelsea failed to clear the ball from their own half.
Baleba then continued to press high, forcing the ball back to goalkeeper Roberto Sanchez. Sanchez then passed straight to Baleba…
who then passed to Hinselwood, but a weak shot was kept off the line.
In another scenario against Fulham, Brighton attacked down the right. Alex Iwobi intercepted the pass inside. Baleba, however, who had been sticking tight to Iwobi when Fulham had the ball, quickly tackled the Nigerian, keeping the attack for Brighton going.
Baleba is quick to rush into closing down and making challenges, so sometimes the ball can get beyond him. This can occur when closing down players from goal kicks, or when facing up against players dribbling in 1v1s. Though this is where his recovery speed can come in handy, as shown against Newcastle United.
An adept ball carrier from deeper areas of the pitch, Baleba can bring the ball through midfield, especially through the centre of the pitch. Baleba can outmuscle those pressuring him when carrying the ball, affording himself extra space. This means he has the option to carry the ball further, or play a pass. Baleba’s ball-carrying is one way to beat a press, and break lines other than passing.
Baleba can drive team forward, in a way like Diogo Dalot already does for United, just to an even greater extent. Notably, Baleba completed 87 progressive carries in the 2024/25 campaign.
Baleba’s tendency to close down quickly in midfield can pay off when forcing quick turnovers, from which Baleba can drive forward with the ball. Again against Newcastle, Baleba picked the ball off of Lewis Miley…
before carrying the ball from out to in, igniting an attack in the process.
Drawing in pressure, Baleba slipped the ball to Georginio Rutter, who could then move the ball wide left, before they Brighton finally played into the box.
Seemingly press-resistant, Baleba often releases the ball after one or two touches, but can also bypass his raker when turning with the ball before carrying into space, or at the very least draw a foul.
Different to all of United’s other senior midfielders, Baleba is left footed. He is the first senior left footed midfielder a United side since Fred. This may offer different angles when passing from deeper areas, besides Luke Shaw, and Lisandro Martinez.
Baleba is not the most risky of passers, and will often to play safety-first. This means retaining possession with short, sideways passes, rather than passes through the lines, more often than not. But this does not mean to say that Baleba is not capable of these sorts of passes. There is just more passes through the lines expected to come from Tielemens, and Mainoo, and then passes in the final-third to come from Bruno Fernandes.
Though Baleba does like to play passes around the opposing player in a 1v1, and has a tendency to try and find a player further forward via a long ball is the opportunity is on. This could be via a ball over the top of the defence, or a switch of play to the other side of the pitch.
Whilst Baleba’s completed long passes per 90 went down to 1.8 last season, compared to 2.2 the season before, it is still a feature to the midfielder’s game.
Though it is not always wise to make massive conclusions after match day one, United’s 2-0 defeat to Hull City highlighted a need for another type of midfielder on top of those already brought in. United did not seem sharp, and perhaps not fully fit, but they were outran, and lacked dynamism, on top of struggling to break down a low block, whilst continuing to face off-ball issues against a back three side.
Baleba is in effect a replacement for Casemiro. Baleba does not offer the threat inside the box offered by Casemiro, who scored 9 goals last season. But Baleba is quicker in regaining the ball than the Brazilian.
With Baleba’s tackling, ball carrying, and energy, as well as Tielemens, and Santos’ passing and aims to set the tempo of play, United’s midfield is different to that of last season. It feels more technical, as well as being more youthful, with Baleba, Santos, and Mainoo, all under the age of 23.
Complementing United’s other midfielders, Baleba offers United a more complete look in the middle of the park, and United need as much energy and quality in depth as they try to improve on the previous campaign, which sees them return to the Champions League. Baleba is not yet a faultless package, but he offers a number of great qualities United were missing, and has plenty of time, and potential, to improve his game even further.
Data: Opta Analyst, WhoScored, FotMob, SofaScore
