Manchester United’s long chase for a new defensive midfielder is finally reaching its conclusion, and the man they have settled on is Carlos Baleba. After more than a year of speculation, injury scares, and a price tag that once looked too steep even for a club desperate to fix its midfield, the Brighton man is now closing in on a move to Old Trafford, with personal terms agreed and the two clubs working through the final numbers on a fee reported to sit around £60 million, with add-ons that could push it closer to £65 million.
The timing matters. United’s season kicks off this weekend, and Baleba is being lined up as the man to fill the hole left by Casemiro, whose contract at Old Trafford was allowed to run down after four years in Manchester. It is a changing of the guard in the middle of the pitch, and it raises an obvious question for United fans: is a 22-year-old still finding his feet in the Premier League really the right man to replace a five-time Champions League winner?
Why United Are Moving On From Casemiro
Casemiro arrived from Real Madrid in the summer of 2022 for around £70 million and, for large stretches of his time in England, looked every bit the elite operator he was at the Bernabéu. He won the FA Cup and League Cup with United, chipped in with a string of important goals, and built a reputation as a big-game player who could read danger before it appeared.
But he turns 35 next February, and United have decided the club needs fresher legs at the base of midfield. Reports throughout the season pointed to the Brazilian earning close to £350,000 a week, a wage bill the club were keen to move on from as they restructured the squad under Michael Carrick. Even a late-career revival, in which Casemiro rediscovered some of his old sharpness and popped up with a handful of important goals, was not enough to change the club’s mind. His deal was left to expire, and several clubs across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States have been credited with interest in signing him on a free transfer.
Baleba’s Rise at Brighton
Baleba joined Brighton from Lille in 2023 for around £27 million and has spent three seasons establishing himself as one of the most physically dominant midfielders outside the traditional “big six.” His 2024/25 campaign was the one that put United on alert: he covered ground at speeds few central midfielders in the league could match, ranked among the very best for combined tackles and interceptions, and scored a stunning injury-time winner against West Ham that was later voted the Premier League’s Goal of the Month.
The following season was quieter by his own standards. A knee problem disrupted his pre-season, a hamstring issue cost him time over Christmas, and Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the World Cup meant he had an unusually long summer off in 2026 rather than international duty. Even so, he remained one of Brighton’s most trusted midfielders, someone Fabian Hurzeler leaned on to shield the back line while the team’s more expressive players did their work further forward.
Head-to-Head: The Numbers
| Category | Carlos Baleba (2025/26, Brighton) | Casemiro (2025/26, Man Utd) |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 22 | 34 |
| Appearances | 31 (Premier League) | 29 (all competitions) |
| Minutes played | 1,662 | — |
| Goals | 2 | 7 |
| Assists | 1 | 2 |
| Tackles | 37 | — |
| Interceptions | 29 | 116 |
| Average match rating | 6.5–6.6 | 7.1–7.2 |
Casemiro’s higher goal and interception totals reflect a full season as United’s senior midfield leader across four competitions, while Baleba’s numbers come from a disrupted campaign in which injuries limited his minutes. His 2024/25 season, by contrast, saw him rank joint-sixth among all Premier League central midfielders for combined tackles and interceptions, with 92 in total.
Contract and Transfer Details
| Carlos Baleba | Casemiro | |
|---|---|---|
| Status at United | Signing on a 5-year deal to 2031 | Departed as a free agent, contract expired June 2026 |
| Transfer fee | Around £60m, potentially rising to £65m with add-ons | £70.7m when signed from Real Madrid in 2022 |
| Age on arrival at United | 22 | 30 |
What Baleba Actually Brings
Baleba is not a carbon copy of Casemiro, and pretending otherwise does him no favours. He does not have the Brazilian’s habit of arriving late into the box to snatch a goal, nor his instinct for the kind of mid-range strike that used to bail United out of tight games. What he does offer is raw physical power: a player who wins the ball back quickly, can drive forward with the ball at his feet over long distances, and covers ground at a rate few midfielders in the league can live with.
Scouts who have watched him closely describe a player who dominates duels through sheer intensity rather than positioning alone, someone who presses aggressively and is comfortable stepping into challenges that more cautious midfielders would avoid. That profile fits the identity United have been trying to build since Casemiro’s influence began to wane: younger, more mobile, and better suited to a high-press system.
The Bigger Picture: A Midfield Rebuild
Baleba’s arrival, if completed, will be the third piece in a busy midfield reshuffle at Old Trafford this summer. United have already brought in Andrey Santos from Chelsea for around £48 million and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa for roughly £35 million, while Ederson has arrived from Atalanta to strengthen the goalkeeping ranks. Add Baleba to that list and United will have spent close to £150 million rebuilding the spine of the team in a single window.
There is one complication. Baleba is expected to need surgery on an ankle injury and is likely to miss the start of the season, meaning his first appearances in a United shirt may not come until September at the earliest. That will test the club’s patience, given how much money and expectation is being placed on his shoulders before he has kicked a ball for them.
Verdict
Comparing Baleba directly to peak Casemiro is unfair to both players. Casemiro at his best was a Champions League winner shaped by a decade at Real Madrid; Baleba is still only 22 and has barely scratched the surface of his potential. But football clubs rarely replace a player with a carbon copy. They replace a problem with a solution suited to where the team is heading next, and for United, that means trading experience and know-how for energy, distance covered, and years of development still to come.
If Baleba stays fit and settles quickly, he has the tools to become United’s long-term answer at the base of midfield. Whether he becomes the “new Casemiro” that some in the club’s recruitment department have called him, or simply his own version of a defensive midfielder, will depend on how well Old Trafford’s latest rebuild holds together over the next few seasons.
