Manchester United seal £70m Baleba deal as Cascarino warns squad lacks Ferguson-era fight

Manchester United have reached an agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion to sign Carlos Baleba for £70 million, after improving their initial £65 million bid by £5 million in add-ons. The 22-year-old Cameroon international is set to put pen to paper on a five-year contract at Old Trafford.

The deal is understood to have delighted the club. Brighton’s stated position during last summer’s window was that they would not sell Baleba for less than the British-record £115 million Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo, making the final fee a significant concession from the south-coast club.

Former Premier League striker Tony Cascarino believes the signing addresses a fundamental problem in Michael Carrick’s squad. Speaking on talkSPORT, Cascarino pointed to United’s 2-0 defeat to Hull City as evidence of a team that has lost its competitive identity. “He can get round the pitch, high tempo, pressing, closing down, whatever way you want to look at it,” Cascarino said of Baleba. “I played against numerous Manchester United teams. They didn’t let you breathe. You went to Old Trafford, you had a tin hat on — Manchester United were not only great technically; they had a great mentality, and they could fight. This team didn’t look like they had any fight in them.”

Cascarino was particularly critical of United’s midfield display against Hull, singling out Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos as players who were “really off the pace.” He also questioned Bruno Fernandes’s consistency, noting that the Portuguese captain was conspicuous by his inactivity rather than his influence. “Bruno Fernandes is a player that I’ve always felt, you can see there’s so much quality there. But when he goes missing, he really goes missing.”

The pundit, who faced United nine times across spells at Millwall, Aston Villa, and Chelsea — winning just once and never at Old Trafford — did not spare the broader squad. “They were awful. I mean, there’s no other phrase for it,” he said, adding that he was “amazed how many Manchester United players didn’t look fit.”

Despite the blunt assessment, Cascarino expressed confidence that Carrick can reverse the slide once reinforcements arrive. “I’m sure Michael Carrick will turn it around. They’ll get players back. But that was something really to be concerned about.”

Baleba’s arrival is expected to be the first significant piece of that rebuild, with the midfielder’s energy and pressing ability seen as a direct answer to the deficiencies Cascarino and others identified against Hull.