Wayne Rooney Backs Carlos Baleba to Transform Manchester United Midfield

Wayne Rooney insists Carlos Baleba will transform Manchester United’s midfield and has dismissed suggestions the Brighton player mentally checked out after his Old Trafford move collapsed last season.

Baleba is closing in on a switch from Brighton in a deal that could rise to £70 million, which would make him United’s third midfield arrival of the summer after Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

Both Tielemans and Santos were thrown straight in on Saturday, starting a flat 2-0 defeat away to newly promoted Hull, a performance that underlined just how urgently United need more power and personality 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 all-time leading 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 rebuild in the centre of the pitch has become the defining theme of their summer. Casemiro, once the anchor of the side, has already departed. Manuel Ugarte, signed to bring steel and structure, has suffered a serious knee injury. The plan has had to be rewritten on the fly.

That has pushed Baleba back into focus.

The 22-year-old Cameroon midfielder was firmly on United’s radar last season, but Brighton were reported to have slapped a £100m price tag on him. The move never materialised. The story, though, didn’t end there.

Baleba went on to endure a difficult campaign on the south coast. He started only 23 Premier League games, failed to score and drew criticism amid talk that he had gone “missing” after the United interest cooled.

Rooney rejects that narrative outright.

“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.”

For Rooney, the intrigue now lies in how Baleba fits alongside Tielemans, Santos and Kobbie Mainoo, the academy jewel who has rapidly become central to United’s plans.

“It will be interesting with Tielemans, Santos and Mainoo but this is what it should be,” Rooney said. “Competition for places. If you don't play well, you don't play.”

United’s midfield has gone from settled to stripped back in the space of a few months. The club’s response has been aggressive: three new signings, three different profiles, one clear aim — to rebuild the engine room on the fly.

If Baleba delivers what Rooney believes he can, the questions about last season at Brighton will fade quickly. The real judgment will come under the lights at Old Trafford, with United’s season and a rebuilt midfield on the line.