Earlier this week, Manchester United announced the signing of Carlos Baleba from Brighton for an initial £65 million plus a further £5 million in add-ons.

He is the third midfielder United have brought in this summer, following the moves of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa and Andrey Santos from Chelsea.

Last campaign, Kobbie Mainoo and Casemiro formed a formidable pair in the middle of the park, but with the latter having left for Inter Miami and United set to play two or three games a week for the coming campaign, reinforcements were needed.

Baleba, unlike Tielemans and Santos, is a strong and quick defensive midfielder who loves to duel, which will provide brilliant balance to Carrick's options.

While United fans have already heard from Baleba and director of football Jason Wilcox on the transfer, it took until Friday afternoon for the public to hear from Carrick regarding his thoughts on the £65 million deal.

Carrick hosted his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of the crunch clash against Ipswich Town on Sunday, and among a host of topics, the United boss was asked about the 22-year-old Cameroon international.

"We’re delighted to have Carlos," Carrick exclaimed. "Huge potential, he’s a really exciting signing for us, the quality he has, the attributes he has offsets the balance of the group we’ve got.

"Different strengths, different combinations. So much more to come from him as well, so it’s exciting for us."

While Baleba is already officially a Manchester United player, he will not make his debut for at least a few more weeks due to an ankle injury suffered in pre-season.

According to various reports, the 22-year-old is expected to be out of action for a couple more weeks, which would put his return timeline at around mid-September, when United have three games to play.

Speaking on Baleba's fitness, Carrick said, "He’s got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, three weeks. It’s no major issue. It’ll be great to have him back."

When further pushed to say whether Baleba could be back before the international break, the United boss said the club were "hopeful" that this will be the case.

United are set to host Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday, 13 September, but if he is not fit for then, Baleba's debut could instead come against his former club Brighton, who visit Old Trafford in midweek for the Carabao Cup third round.

There is also a fixture away from home against Fulham on Sunday, 20 September. If Baleba doesn't feature in any of these games, his debut wouldn't then come until 10 October, at home against Tottenham, due to the three-week international break.