Man United Pursues Baleba as Fifth Summer Signing

Manchester United step back into Premier League life on Saturday lunchtime at the MKM Stadium, away to promoted Hull City. The season starts, but the window is very much still open – and Old Trafford’s recruitment drive is not done yet.

One or more of United’s new arrivals could be thrown straight in against Hull. Youri Tielemans, signed from Aston Villa, and Andrey Santos, brought in from Chelsea, are both pushing hard for starts in Michael Carrick’s first game as permanent manager. Carrick earned the job by steering United into the Champions League during his interim spell. Now he wants a squad that can cope with the extra load.

That is where Carlos Baleba comes in.

Baleba now, left-back next

United’s move for Baleba is back on the table and moving towards completion. There are still details to iron out, but once the club finalise that deal, attention is expected to swing quickly to a new left-back – targeted as the fifth senior signing of the summer.

Luke Shaw remains the clear first-choice in that role. The problem is not Shaw’s quality, but the calendar. Champions League nights, domestic cups, a full league campaign: United know they cannot lean on one left-back all season and hope for the best, especially with Shaw’s injury history.

Recruitment staff have already drawn up a shortlist. Lewis Hall, now at Newcastle after his Chelsea breakthrough, is a leading name, with Jorge Salinas and Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde also discussed internally this week.

Newcastle’s stance on Hall is firm. Unless they soften, United may be forced to wait or walk away. If patience runs out, one of the two Spaniards could jump to the front of the queue as United look to lock down that flank for both the present and the future.

Door shuts on Lewis-Skelly

One young talent is almost certainly off the market.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has moved decisively to end talk of a Myles Lewis-Skelly exit, after links to both United and Chelsea. Asked about the teenager’s future, Arteta was emphatic, insisting the England youth international will “100 per cent” still be at the Emirates Stadium when the window closes.

Arteta underlined why Arsenal are so protective of their own academy products, saying players raised in their system, who feel that connection and “love” for the club, bring something unique and hard to replace. He stressed the need to look after them “in a really special way”, to protect those assets, develop them, and make them “extremely important for the club”.

For United, that sounds like the end of any realistic Lewis-Skelly pursuit. The message from north London is clear. If Carrick wants another young midfielder to grow with this new-look side, he will have to find him somewhere other than the Emirates.