Why Man Utd, Brighton and Baleba all lose from failed transfer with £115m star a huge 25/26 let-down
Carlos Baleba’s failed summer move to Manchester United has left no winners, with the Brighton star one of this season’s biggest disappointments…
One of this summer transfer window’s most surprising developments came as Man Utd, despite apparently being at risk of going bust by Christmas, made an audacious move for Brighton sensation Baleba.
This provided evidence of the Red Devils, for a change, being notably astute in the transfer market as a No.6 with such a high ceiling as Baleba had the potential to turn Ruben Amorim’s side into a competent team.
One of Man Utd’s many glaring weaknesses is their lack of a mobile No.6 to glue the team together. Baleba would have fixed this problem, but this ‘dream’ scenario proved too good to be true.
With United almost exclusively focusing on overhauling their attack, they did not have £115m left over to sign Baleba. Therefore, they shelved their interest until a later date and also opted against signing an alternative.
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The immense lure of Man Utd remains undiminished by their prolonged on-field woes, with Baleba reportedly joining a host of other players in favouring a move to Old Trafford despite being able to do better.
But with Brighton refusing to play ball, Baleba is stuck at the south coast until January at the earliest, and it’s clear that this summer’s events have negatively impacted his performances.
On Sunday, Baleba picked up a yellow card in the 20th minute and, for the third time this season, was hooked off by Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler at half-time, while he is yet to complete 90 minutes amid a string of sub-par performances this term.
This time, Hurzeler claimed post-match that Baleba was subbed “because of the yellow card”, but the Brighton boss has previously accepted that the “incredible” star’s form has dipped following his failed move to Man Utd.
“I’m confident that we will get the best out of him, I think he needs time, he’s a young boy, his development in the last year was incredible.” Hurzeler said.
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“Maybe it went a little bit too fast, there was a lot of rumours about him, he played an incredible season, but I always try to be humble with the players.
“Because with young players, it’s normal that there will be some waves in their development, and at the moment, we have a wave, so therefore the only way to get out of it, is to try to keep working hard and try to use every training session you can have and try to get as many minutes on the pitch.”
So, at the moment, the Baleba saga has no winner…
The player is clearly hurting from missing out on a huge pay bump and a desired move to an elite club, which is proven by his uncharacteristic decline at the start of this season.
Man Utd are still lacking a quality No.6, and without such a player, their severe defensive issues will continue to limit their progress under Amorim/his potential replacement.
And Brighton have a seemingly unhappy player performing far from his peak and should Baleba’s issues continue, they would have little choice but to accept his sale for a fee significantly lower than £115m.
