Carlos Baleba has acknowledged that persistent links to Manchester United amplified expectations and contributed to a difficult run of form this season. After emerging last term as one of Europe\u2019s most impressive defensive midfielders, the Brighton midfielder has struggled to replicate that level and his performances have tested manager Fabian H\u00fcrzeler\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n
The German boss has used Baleba sparingly this term, with the player completing the full 90 minutes in just one of Brighton\u2019s 16 top-flight fixtures. That reduced role has coincided with a more uneven campaign for the 17 shirt and greater scrutiny around his consistency.<\/p>\n
Asked about whether the transfer speculation affected him, Baleba was initially dismissive. \u201cI don\u2019t think it affected me,\u201d he told Sky Sports News after enduring more highs and lows in Saturday\u2019s 2\u20130 defeat to Liverpool . He was, however, candid about the weight of expectation. \u201cI had a lot of pressure on me,\u201d he conceded.<\/p>\n
Baleba described his own standards and the work required to return to last season\u2019s form. \u201cWhen I started the season, I wanted to [have] the same performances as last season. Every day I try to work hard and to get [back] to my level.\u201d On whether he had demanded too much of himself he added: \u201cDid I put too much pressure on myself? Yes, I think so, but I think that\u2019s good. It\u2019s good for me because now I need to pass this time of pressure and I need to get up and continue to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manchester United shifted last summer\u2019s recruitment focus away from midfield, spending around \u00a3200 million on Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko, but their need for central midfield reinforcements remains. Brighton\u2019s No. 17 is one option among several, with other names also emerging as potential targets.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Elliot Anderson has risen this season, and any incoming midfielder would be expected to ease the burden on Casemiro, who is out of contract next summer. Adam Wharton also offers experience of operating in a 3-4-2-1 shape for Crystal Palace, giving clubs alternative profiles to consider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baleba admits transfer links to Man Utd increased pressure and affected his 2025\/26 form. and growth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[773,1083,1163],"tags":[216,215,939],"class_list":["post-5087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brighton-hove-albion","category-man-utd","category-transfers","tag-adam-wharton","tag-carlos-baleba","tag-casemiro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5087","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=5087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}