Manchester United Sign Baleba for £70m Amid Parrott's Betis Wait
Manchester United have pushed their summer rebuild another step forward, sealing a deal for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba worth up to £70m (€81m).
The Cameroon international becomes the third midfielder through the door at Old Trafford in this window, following the arrivals of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. United’s engine room, long criticised as ponderous and predictable, suddenly looks younger, more mobile and far more expensive.
Baleba’s move underlines United’s commitment to reshaping the core of their team rather than tinkering around the edges. A powerful, energetic presence in the middle of the pitch, he leaves Brighton after establishing himself as one of the Premier League’s most coveted emerging midfielders.
Celtic cruising, Parrott waiting
While United were signing cheques, Celtic were busy trying to finish a job already half-done. The Scottish champions face LASK tonight in a Champions League qualifier, carrying a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg. Liam Scales starts on the bench as Celtic look to stroll into the next round rather than stagger.
On the continent, the focus drifts to Spain and to a different kind of waiting game.
Irish striker Troy Parrott, fresh from his move to Real Betis from AZ Alkmaar last week, could make his La Liga debut tonight away to Valencia at the Mestalla. Kick-off is at 8pm, and the sense around Betis is that this might be a night for a late cameo rather than a full unveiling.
Parrott doesn’t start.
Cucho Hernández keeps his place through the middle after an 11-goal La Liga campaign last season, and that is the bar the Irishman has to clear if he wants the No 9 role on a regular basis.
Betis line up as follows: Valles; Ortiz, Gomez, Llorente, Firpo; Fornals, Bernal, Deossa; Antony, Hernandez, Riquelme.
With Antony nailed down on one flank and Rodrigo Riquelme on the other, Hernández continues as the central striker. For now, Parrott must watch, wait and be ready.
Pellegrini’s verdict: “Ready to play”
Manuel Pellegrini has been careful with his words and his selections. Parrott only joined Betis a day before their last game, a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad settled by a Riquelme goal, and the manager has resisted the temptation to throw him straight into the starting XI.
“Troy has not been working with us for a long time,” Pellegrini said. “He joined us only a day before the last game. But he has been working hard and he is on the list because he is ready to play.”
Ready, but not yet trusted with the first whistle. That will sting a little for a player riding the high of his Budapest hat-trick for Ireland and a transformative spell in the Netherlands.
As Gavin Cooney has written, forsaking English football has been the making of Parrott. Once he settled in the Eredivisie, the forward spoke candidly about escaping the noise and expectation that swirled around him as a teenager in England.
“Trying to live up to the hype at such a young age, it was never going to happen that early because football isn’t so easy,” he said in 2024. “For me it was more about growing up a bit and trying to block out the noise.”
Spain is the next test of that maturity.
Betis build the buzz
If the team sheet is cautious, the club’s social media team certainly isn’t. Betis have leaned into the excitement, posting twice about Parrott in quick succession before kick-off.
One image shows his pristine No 19 jersey, the other a young fan holding a flag with the message: “what’s the craic Troy?”
The message is clear: this is a signing to get behind, a player to believe in.
Betis, back in the Champions League this season, are trying to balance ambition with realism. They already have a functioning front line, a winning start in the league, and a Colombian striker who knows how to score in Spain. That’s the man Parrott has to dislodge.
Still, it beats grinding away in the Championship for West Ham.
From Manchester’s big-money midfield rebuild to Seville’s patient introduction of a resurgent Irish forward, the night underlines a simple truth about this season: careers are being reshaped not in theory, but on the teamsheet.
