Manchester United's Midfield Rebuild: The Case for Baleba Over Tchouaméni
Manchester United are edging back towards the top tier of European football, and the club is starting to act like it.
If the Premier League table froze today, Michael Carrick would drag United into the Champions League for the first time since their grim 2023/24 group-stage exit. That looming return to Tuesdays and Wednesdays under the lights is already shaping the summer: a new permanent manager to appoint, a midfield to rebuild, and a squad to harden for elite competition.
At the heart of it all sits one unavoidable fact: Casemiro is going. His four-season spell at Old Trafford, brilliant and chaotic in equal measure, will end this summer. United know they cannot afford to get his replacement wrong.
United weigh up their midfield rebuild
The search has taken them across Europe’s top tables. Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouaméni has emerged as the headline name, a £70m powerhouse and, in the words of analyst Raj Chohan, “one of the best defensive midfielder on the planet”. Journalist Andy Mitten has even claimed the Frenchman is “the only player in Spain who United have been looking at”.
He is not the only name on the list, though. Atalanta’s Ederson is admired. Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali remains on the radar. United have also kept a close eye on Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba for a long time.
That last name is where the story gets interesting.
According to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, Baleba is still pushing for a move to Old Trafford. The two sides even have a verbal agreement on personal terms, originally struck in 2025 and, Romano says, still valid.
“Baleba wanted to go to Man United,” Romano explained. “An agreement on personal terms remains valid. Man Utd now need to decide whether to go for Baleba or not.”
So the ball is very much in United’s court. They must first settle the managerial situation, then work out Brighton’s position on selling a 22-year-old who, despite a stuttering season, remains one of the most intriguing holding midfielders in the league.
The numbers matter too. While Tchouaméni would command around £70m, Baleba is now thought to be available for roughly £50m – a sharp drop from the £100m valuation once attached to his name.
Why Baleba might be the smarter bet
On reputation alone, backing Baleba over Tchouaméni sounds reckless. The Frenchman is a regular at Real Madrid, a La Liga winner, and a player whose composure and reading of the game have been praised across Europe.
But reputation does not always align with opportunity.
Tchouaméni would be extremely difficult to prise away from Madrid, and any deal would eat a huge chunk of United’s budget. Baleba, by contrast, offers a different kind of value: younger, cheaper, and already seasoned in the Premier League.
At just 22, the Brighton midfielder has built up a solid bank of top-flight minutes in England – something Tchouaméni does not have. During his standout 2024/25 campaign, Baleba’s output stacked up impressively against the Madrid number 14’s 2025/26 numbers, with the Cameroonian outperforming him in several key areas of their respective midfield games.
This season has not exploded in the same way for Baleba, disrupted and uneven rather than dominant. Yet the underlying profile remains: a powerful, combative holding midfielder with the engine to cover ground, the aggression to break up play, and a fierce strike from deep that adds a threat Casemiro once brought in flashes.
Journalist Ryan Adsett has previously described Baleba as “world-class”. United’s recruitment team will not be swayed by a single label, but they will note the trajectory. A player once spoken of as a £100m asset now potentially available at half that figure is exactly the sort of market inefficiency an ambitious club should be attacking.
If United can land Baleba for around £50m, they secure a cost-effective successor to Casemiro, a midfielder already adapted to English football and still years away from his peak. At that price, Tchouaméni stops being the obsession and becomes the luxury.
The decision is simple in theory, brutal in reality: do United chase the superstar at Madrid, or move decisively for the Brighton enforcer who might anchor their midfield for the next decade?
If they choose Baleba and get him at that discounted fee, Tchouaméni’s name will quickly fade from Old Trafford conversations. The new era in United’s midfield would have its own leader.
