Manchester United's Midfield Rebuild Faces Challenges from PSG
Manchester United’s midfield rebuild has hit its first snag of the summer – and it comes from Paris.
INEOS have already pushed through the arrivals of Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, but the plan was always bigger than that. Michael Carrick wants three new midfielders in before the serious business starts: a squad deep enough to attack the Champions League and strong enough to at least live in the same postcode as the Premier League title race.
The third piece, though, is suddenly looking complicated.
Kone waits for Paris
Manu Kone, the man United have been driving hardest towards, is now stalling. Not for more money. Not for another Premier League rival. For Paris Saint-Germain.
United’s interest has been clear for weeks. On July 9, TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey revealed the club were lining up a move for the AS Roma midfielder, who shone for France at the 2026 World Cup and has been valued at around £50m by the Serie A side. Italian reports then went further, claiming United had already thrashed out an agreement in principle over personal terms and were preparing a bid of around €50m (£42.6m, $57m).
Corriere dello Sport framed United as the frontrunners, describing them as “the club with the most potential for the deal at the moment”, with representative Andrea D’Amico waiting for a decisive offer. The suggestion was clear: the money would be big, but perhaps still not quite big enough for Roma.
Atletico Madrid, Al-Ahli and Chelsea have all been linked, yet the real twist has come from France. According to Il Tempo, relayed by SportWitness and RomaPress, Kone has made it known he is open to a move to Old Trafford. He has not closed the door. He has simply left another one ajar.
He is waiting for PSG.
Last season’s Ligue 1 and Champions League winners have yet to make a concrete move for the 25-year-old, but their shadow looms over the deal. Kone’s camp is listening to United, talking to United, but still hoping that Luis Enrique’s side pick up the phone.
For United, it is a familiar feeling: doing the groundwork, setting up the structure of a transfer, then watching another superpower test the player’s resolve. The difference now is that INEOS cannot afford to waste a summer chasing a midfielder who is dreaming of the Parc des Princes.
Baleba back on the board
United, to their credit, are not standing still. Kone is a priority, not an obsession.
Behind the scenes, another name has never really left their list: Carlos Baleba.
The Brighton midfielder wanted Old Trafford last summer. United liked him too. The problem was the price. Brighton, never shy when it comes to valuing their assets, were talking about figures “well north of £75m and closer to £100m” for the 22-year-old Cameroon international. United walked away.
That stance has not softened on the south coast. TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reported on July 21 that United still “absolutely love his game” and see him as the ideal defensive presence to anchor Carrick’s evolving midfield. Even after what they consider an inconsistent season, they rate him at around £50m.
Brighton see it very differently. The club’s valuation has been set in the same financial climate that saw Elliot Anderson briefly become the most expensive British player ever, before Morgan Rogers overtook him. In that context, Baleba remains a nine-figure asset in their eyes. As Bailey put it, that price tag “immediately puts him outside United’s thinking.”
And yet, he remains firmly in their conversations.
On July 23, Sky Sports confirmed that Baleba and Kone are the two midfielders “being strongly considered” by United. One is waiting on PSG. The other is locked behind Brighton’s pricing wall.
A test of INEOS’ resolve
This is where the new regime at Old Trafford gets examined. United have already moved decisively for Santos and Tielemans, but the third signing will define the balance of Carrick’s midfield. They want someone who can protect the back line, dictate tempo, and give Bruno Fernandes and the forwards the platform to play higher and more aggressively.
In an ideal world, as Bailey put it, they “just sign Carlos Baleba.” In the real world, they are trying to prise Kone from Roma while the player glances toward Paris, and wrestling with a valuation from Brighton that belongs in a different bracket.
The strategy is clear: no more throwing everything at one target and hoping it sticks. United are running parallel tracks, keeping pressure on Roma over Kone while keeping the door ajar with Baleba and monitoring how Brighton’s stance evolves.
The question now is simple and ruthless: who blinks first – PSG, Brighton, or Manchester United?
