Michael Carrick has outlined a cautious timeline for Carlos Baleba\u2019s Manchester United debut, saying the new summer signing could be ready before the September international break despite an ankle problem.<\/p>\n
United had been in the market for Baleba last summer, but Brighton\u2019s \u00a3100 million valuation at the time made a deal unrealistic. The midfielder\u2019s price later fell after a less consistent 2025-26 campaign on the south coast, allowing United to land a player they had tracked for some time.<\/p>\n
For now, though, supporters will have to wait. Baleba will not be involved against Ipswich Town this weekend, with Carrick explaining that the Cameroon international arrived carrying an ankle issue that should keep him out for another couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a little ankle issue,\u201d Carrick told reporters. \u201cSo, maybe a couple of weeks or so [until he debuts], maybe three weeks, we\u2019ll see. But we knew that before, so it\u2019s no major issue. It\u2019ll be great to have him back when we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked whether Baleba could feature before the break, which begins on Sept. 21, Carrick kept the message measured. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously new, you know, having the break to deal with. But we\u2019ll wait and see. We\u2019ll wait and see. We\u2019re hopeful, but I don\u2019t want to put any deadlines on it just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
United\u2019s opening league outing offered little encouragement. A trip to newly-promoted Hull City looked manageable on paper, but the performance was poor and ended in a 2-0 defeat at the MKM Stadium.<\/p>\n
Santos and Tielemans, making their competitive debuts, both struggled before being replaced in the 67th minute. Baleba\u2019s energy and defensive edge might have helped, but he will instead be introduced to the Old Trafford crowd when fit.<\/p>\n
The broader concern is familiar enough for United. Second matches have often been problematic in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, and the club have not won their second Premier League game of a season since a 4-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in 2020-21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carrick says Baleba could debut before the September break after an ankle issue delays his United start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,2019,172],"tags":[242,180,182],"class_list":["post-18799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-manchester-united-news","category-epl","tag-injury","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}