As Manchester United made the long journey back from Hull last weekend, nursing a damaging defeat and no shortage of embarrassment, Michael Carrick’s most pressing worry may well have been the shape of his revamped midfield.
United have invested £85million this summer in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, yet both were outshone by Hull City’s industrious engine room: Regan Slater, signed for just £50,000, and Matt Crooks, the 32-year-old EFL stalwart whose only club since scoring in Middlesbrough’s surprise FA Cup victory at Old Trafford in 2022 had been Real Salt Lake.
Carrick was keen to stress that it was only one match, and he will have taken encouragement from events unfolding back in Manchester, where Carlos Baleba was completing his medical ahead of a £70m transfer from Brighton this week.
United’s search for midfield reinforcements has been anything but smooth. In June, they had agreed a £38m deal with Atalanta for Ederson, only to walk away after concerns emerged during the Brazilian’s medical assessment.
Their pursuit became even more complicated when top target Elliot Anderson chose Manchester City, with United seemingly unable to match the scale of a £116m package. That impression only deepened as Tottenham moved decisively, hijacking their interest in Mateus Fernandes with an £85m bid before landing Sandro Tonali for £100m.
Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos endured a difficult afternoon against Hull City’s intensity as Manchester United fell to a 2-0 defeat against the promoted side
Michael Carrick has made strengthening Manchester United’s midfield a key focus of the summer transfer window
As their rivals have continued to spend heavily, United’s more cautious approach in the market has increasingly looked like a risk, raising fears that the Premier League’s leading clubs are pulling away. A serious move for Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, meanwhile, always appeared ambitious at best.
After Santos arrived from Chelsea for £50m in July and Tielemans swiftly followed after United triggered his £35m buyout clause at Aston Villa, it still felt as though a stellar signing was needed to excite the fans.
In the end, the search led back to Baleba, a player United had first inquired about last summer only to be put off by Brighton’s valuation of more than £100m.
In that sense, a fee of £65m plus up to £5m in add-ons represents good business for one of the Premier League’s most promising defensive midfielders – even though the 22-year-old Cameroon international struggled last season, perhaps disillusioned at missing out on a dream move to Old Trafford.
United insiders say Baleba remained under consideration throughout this summer, but only at the right price. It was not by chance that the club left it a little later in the transfer window to make their move, getting Baleba for £30m less than he would have cost a year ago.
The approach to Brighton was United’s first since then, and negotiations are said to have been wrapped up relatively quickly – even though the player has arrived with an ankle injury that means he won’t be able to make his debut against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford this afternoon (sun) or for some time after that.
‘It’s not always straightforward, and things have got to drop,’ said Carrick. ‘In the end, we’ve been patient. We wanted to get the right players in that fit the group and will take us forward, and Carlos is definitely one of them. We’re delighted to have him and once he gets going in the next two to three weeks he’ll be really strong.’
Unlike last summer, when United revamped their attack by moving decisively to sign Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo before adding Benjamin Sesko, the midfield rebuild has taken a more circuitous route with a few twists and turns along the way.
But having tied Kobbie Mainoo to a new contract in April, United have replaced Casemiro, who left as a free agent this summer, and Manuel Ugarte, who would have moved on were it not for the knee injury he suffered at the World Cup.
Carlos Baleba has arrived from Brighton in a £70million move, but will he solve their problems?
Baleba’s form dipped last season but at 22 he is still one of the best young midfielders in the Premier League
Carrick has other options in central midfield. Mason Mount impressed there before suffering yet another injury setback midway through pre-season, while the Fletcher twins, Tyler and Jack, are two of the academy players working most closely with the first-team group at Carrington.
But primarily he will pick from a gang of four. Two defensive No.6s in Baleba and Santos. Two more progressive No.8s in Tielemans and Mainoo.
Time will tell if this a group capable of delivering success at a club that have struggled for years to find worthy successors to midfield stars like Bryan Robson, Paul Ince, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.
Plenty of new signings have tried and failed: think Paul Pogba, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Fred, Morgan Schneiderlin and Ugarte to name but a few.
You may have to go back as far as the arrival of Carrick himself 20 years ago for the last great midfield signing, but the current United boss is happy with the players who have arrived this summer.
‘I think we’ve got a really good balance,’ said Carrick. ‘We’ve certainly got youth in there. And when I say youth, that comes with a lot of experience and not youth where it’s really young, with Youri and Mason to balance that off.
‘Obviously it’s picking the right balance, the right combinations, at certain times. I think it’s a really strong midfield, and a really strong unit, so I’m really happy with that.’
Santos and Tielemans won’t have been happy with their Premier League debuts for United at Hull, where they were replaced in a double substitution in the 67th minute with their team already 2-0 down. It came on the back of a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in the final pre-season friendly, but there is every chance they will be given another opportunity to impress against Ipswich today (sun).
Mainoo was introduced off the bench at the MKM Stadium as he steps up his fitness following a frustrating World Cup with England, and it’s understood that the 21-year-old is expecting regular football after almost leaving the club last season under Ruben Amorim.
As Carrick says, the challenge will be to get the rotation and chemistry right in a season that sees United having to cope with the added demands of the Champions League.
He succeeded in the second half of last season using Mainoo alongside Casemiro after Amorim clipped Bruno Fernandes’ wings by playing him in a deeper role next to the Brazilian.
For all the talk about his age and earnings, Casemiro’s nine goals were more than Baleba, Santos, Tielemans and Mainoo combined. The 34-year-old also played more forward passes per game than Tielemans and covered more ground than Baleba.
Now he has gone, Carrick must adapt the new group to get what he wants which, based on the evidence so far this summer, is playing on the front foot and moving the ball forward quickly. It could well be the difference between success and failure.
