Carlos Baleba emerged as a target for Manchester United at the end of the 2025 summer transfer window, shortly after the Reds signed Benjamin Sesko.

Despite agreeing personal terms with the midfielder, United could not match Brighton's demands for Baleba, who was valued at over £100 million.

Fast-forward 12 months and the Cameroonian is now close to a move for around £70 million, partly due to an underwhelming 2025/26 campaign at the Amex Stadium.

But those at Old Trafford still believe that Baleba has a lot of potential and is the right profile to compliment the other midfielders at the club in Kobbie Mainoo, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

An agreement on a fee for the player is likely to come this week but Baleba's debut will not come straight away as he is still recovering from a small injury sustained during pre-season.

Baleba, 22, offers the kind of physicality and energy missing in United's engine room but he also has quality on the ball that he will want to show.

The youngster can provide some of the all-action attributes that remind you of the midfielders from yesteryear, and that shows in the players he admired growing up.

Speaking previously in an interview with Sky Sports, Baleba explained that he has been inspired by many different midfielders but highlighted five players who all had different attributes.

"My game's inspired by a lot of people who I've admired since I was a kid," the 22-year-old stated.

"Kevin de Bruyne, Paul Pogba, Thiago Alcantara, Xavi, Andres Iniesta - so many others. So I've got the knack of doing something with the ball at my feet, I'm still working on that."

Of course, Pogba came through the ranks at United before departing to Juventus and then making a sensational comeback to Old Trafford in 2016. The Frenchman registered 90 goal contributions for United in 233 games.

The idea of signing Baleba last summer was much more universally accepted than it is now. Some fans are wary of the way that the midfielder's levels dropped last season.

But the Reds should be aware that you cannot judge a young talent based on a small period of time. Mainoo is perhaps the best example why you shouldn't do that.

The Englishman, like Baleba, was struggling to make an impact and his future looked bleak in the first-half of last season until Michael Carrick took charge.

The new head coach platformed Mainoo and allowed him to show his strengths, and he was one of United's best performing players in the second half of the season.

Baleba will be hoping that Carrick can help him excel in the midfield at Old Trafford once the transfer is over the line.