Carlos Baleba's Injury Delays Manchester United Debut
Carlos Baleba’s Manchester United debut is on ice before it has even begun.
The £70 million signing will be sidelined for around three weeks with an ankle injury, Michael Carrick has confirmed, delaying the first glimpse of a midfielder United believe can reshape their engine room.
New arrival, same wait
Baleba completed his move from Brighton on Tuesday, joining Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans in a rebuilt midfield group. United’s director of football Jason Wilcox has already labelled the 22-year-old “an elite midfielder with immense potential to develop further”, but Old Trafford will have to be patient.
The Cameroon international arrived with an existing ankle problem. It keeps him out of Sunday’s Premier League opener at home to promoted Ipswich and is expected to rule him out beyond that as well.
"He's got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, maybe three weeks," Carrick said. "We'll see but we knew that before, so it's no major issue but it'll be great to have him back when we can."
Baleba’s injury had already cost him Brighton’s Conference League ties and their Premier League opener. Carrick’s timeline now points towards a potential first United appearance against his former club.
United face Albion in the Carabao Cup before heading to Fulham on September 20, their final outing before Tottenham visit Old Trafford after the international break on October 10. Somewhere in that run, the curtain should finally lift on Baleba.
Carrick’s excitement, tempered by caution
Despite the early setback, Carrick made no attempt to hide his enthusiasm for the club’s new midfield pillar.
"We're delighted to have Carlos," he said. "I think huge potential, massive potential. I think he's a really exciting signing for us.
"I think the quality that he has, the attributes that he has that offsets a little bit of the balance of the group that we've got. Different strengths, different combinations.
"So, for us to have that, absolutely delighted to have him. I think there's so much more to come from him as well, which with the player that he already is with that little bit more to come is exciting for us."
Asked whether Baleba and Amad Diallo could feature before the three-week international break, Carrick refused to circle a date on the calendar.
"It's obviously new, the break to deal with, but we'll wait and see," he said. "We're hopeful but I don't want to put any deadlines on it just yet.
"Amad won't be involved this week. He'll be out for a little bit longer. Mase (Mason Mount) is back around the group, which was great. Trained this week, so that's a big positive for us."
Response required after nightmare start
The injury news lands in a week when United are already searching for a reaction. A 2-0 defeat at play-off winners Hull last weekend turned the start of their season sour and sharpened the focus on Carrick’s selections.
Marcus Rashford, given extra rest after the World Cup, came on at half-time at Hull alongside Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo. All three will again be central to Carrick’s thinking as he tries to steady the mood.
"We've got a squad to choose from. We've got a good squad and we could pick a variety kind of combinations within the team," he said. "We'll pick a team for the weekend but, yeah, certainly the boys are massively in contention."
For now, the Baleba era at Old Trafford remains a promise rather than a reality. The question is simple: by the time he’s ready to step into midfield, what kind of season will he be walking into?
