Man Utd's decision to make Baleba their 'third midfielder'

After signing Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa in the space of 24 hours of each other last month, there has been an element of 'will-they, won't-they' about the past five weeks.

At times, it felt the 'third midfielder' search has taken on a life of its own.

Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni was heavily touted, so too Bournemouth's Alex Scott and Roma's Manu Kone. In more recent days, the name of Fulham's Sander Berge has become more prominent. That of Bournemouth's Tyler Adams has never gone away.

United privately played down potential interest in Brighton's Carlos Baleba.

But in a sense, they didn't need to be actively interested in him. Most of the work was done 12 months ago.

Now the first offer has gone in; £60m, plus an additional £5m. It won't be enough.

Talks are continuing though and the expectation is the transfer will get done.

It is impossible to assess the merits of the actual transfers until the individuals concerned have played often enough to evaluate how well they have done.

However, it is fair to accept United's data and recruitment department have succeeded in reshaping Michael Carrick's midfield.

It was known in January veteran Brazilian Casemiro would leave when his contract expired on 30 June. Ruben Amorim's exit had already seen skipper Bruno Fernandes move into a more advanced role.

With Manuel Ugarte not rated highly despite his £50.8m price tag, it meant United went into the summer with Kobbie Mainoo as the only experienced midfielder likely to play a prominent part in the 2026-27 season.

Mainoo's strength is taking the ball in tight spaces and progressing it up the pitch. Santos has screened the defence excellently in pre-season. Tielemans has composure, an excellent passing range, and is determined to increase his goals output.

What the defeat by AC Milan in Wroclaw at the weekend highlighted was a lack of energy; a player in the old box-to-box mould. Baleba's main strength is his ability to cover the ground quickly.

If the deal goes through, and when Baleba has recovered from an ankle injury sustained in pre-season that is expected to keep him out for another couple of weeks, Carrick will have variety and options, which also include Mason Mount, Scotland World Cup squad member Tyler Fletcher and, in extremis, Fernandes.