Wayne Rooney Backs Carlos Baleba to Transform Manchester United's Midfield
Wayne Rooney is convinced Carlos Baleba will transform Manchester United’s midfield and has dismissed claims the Brighton player downed tools after a move to Old Trafford collapsed last season.
Baleba is set to join United from Brighton in a deal that could rise to £70 million, making him the club’s third midfield signing of the summer after Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
Both Tielemans and Santos went straight into the starting XI on Saturday, but their first taste of Premier League action in red ended in a flat 2-0 defeat at newly promoted Hull – a performance that underlined why United are still pushing hard for more power and energy in the middle of the pitch.
Rooney, speaking on the Stick to United with Wayne Rooney podcast on Disney+, made it clear he believes Baleba is exactly that.
“I really like him, I think he's a really good signing,” United’s record scorer said. “We need another midfield player with a bit of physicality and I know he's not six-foot-four or whatever but he covers the ground really well, he's aggressive, he takes the ball, and is what we need. He's a very good player who will improve the team massively.”
United’s summer has been built around a midfield rebuild. Casemiro, once the anchor of Erik ten Hag’s side, has gone. Manuel Ugarte, brought in to bring bite and security, has suffered a serious knee injury. The plan had to change quickly, and it has.
Tielemans offers control and passing range. Santos brings youth and dynamism. Baleba, at 22, is being lined up as the player to knit that all together with intensity.
The Cameroon midfielder first came onto United’s radar last season, but Brighton’s reported £100m valuation effectively shut down any chance of a deal. What followed on the south coast was a difficult campaign: Baleba started only 23 Premier League games, failed to score, and found himself accused in some quarters of having gone “missing” after the Old Trafford move failed to materialise.
Rooney rejects that narrative.
“I don't think he went missing,” he said. “The chance doesn't come around that often to play for Manchester United, so you don't know what effect that has.
“There's no denying his ability as a player. I think he is a top player.”
The expectation now is that Baleba will walk into a fiercely contested midfield picture. Tielemans, Santos and Kobbie Mainoo are all pushing for minutes and status, and Rooney believes that is exactly how it should be at a club of United’s size.
“It will be interesting with Tielemans, Santos and Mainoo but this is what it should be. Competition for places. If you don't play well, you don't play.”
United have put their money and their faith into that idea. Baleba’s fee, his age and his profile all point to a player they see as central to the next phase of Ten Hag’s project.
Now he has to justify Rooney’s conviction – and prove that the move he missed out on last year is one he was ready for all along.
