Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United.
Sean McCormick Football Content Editor
04:00, 08 Aug 2025
Sean McCormick is a content editor across our North East and Yorkshire football clubs. He was previously a Newcastle United reporter, a trends writer covering both the Magpies and Sunderland AFC, as well as a football content editor at the Manchester Evening News. He also writes about darts and boxing. He joined us in 2016.
Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba (C) has been linked with Manchester United(Image: 2025 James Gill – Danehouse)
Manchester United’s priority in the transfer market all summer has been resolving last season’s goalscoring woes.
Only four teams scored fewer goals in the Premier League last term than United, and three of them ended up being relegated to the Championship.
But with the arrivals of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo and their pursuit of Benjamin Sesko looking like it is going to reach a successful conclusion, attention over the last 24 hours has turned towards what is next for United in the transfer market.
It is hardly a secret that Ruben Amorim wants more dynamism in his midfield and after the departure of Christian Eriksen this summer, United need another body in midfield to compete with Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo for a starting place.
And their search has seemingly taken them towards Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Carlos Baleba who is said to be a leading target for United this summer.
The 21-year-old is an international teammate of United stars Mbeumo and Andre Onana and has impressed at Premier League level for the Seagulls across the last couple of seasons.
His mentality and attitude are credited among his biggest strengths and, on the evidence of what we have seen during his time at the Amex Stadium, he is exactly the kind of player Amorim covets in his midfield.
The problem is Brighton owner Tony Bloom is renowned as a master negotiator and a tough seller. Brighton have negotiated large fees for the likes of Moises Caicedo, Joao Pedro, Yves Bissouma, Marc Cucurella, Alexis Mac Allister and Ben White in recent seasons.
Baleba will be a difficult and expensive transfer to make and while he may be one of United’s top targets, they may well be forced to seek possible alternatives.
With that in mind, using DataMB’s player similarity generator tool to bring up players with similar characteristics to Baleba, one of the top results is a little-known German midfielder who has been a revelation for Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
Patrick Osterhage joined the German side from Bochum last summer and made 30 league appearances last term to help his side almost qualify for the Champions League.
Patrick Osterhage of SC Freiburg (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
The 25-year-old was seen as an astute buy and his ability to screen the back four at the base of their midfield was one of the big reasons behind their success last term.
Speaking after his arrival at the Europa-Park Stadion, Freiburg sporting director Klemens Hartenbach not only praised his ability on the pitch but also cited his character away from the field as a big reason as to why they chose to sign him.
“We’ve had our eye on Patrick for a number of years,” Hartenbach said.
“When he was younger, he battled through tough times thanks to his remarkable attitude. He can play anywhere in the midfield and we’re convinced that he still has a lot of potential.
“Patrick can pass well, but also likes to shoot himself. He’ll be a great addition to the side given his dynamism, pace and excellent stamina. We’re really excited.”
And while Osterhage’s physical qualities would appeal to Amorim, that attitude is something the United boss is demanding from his United side.
“It is a key point in our way to do things now,” Amorim said when discussing why United signed Mbeumo and Cunha this summer.
“It’s not just how they play, it’s really important of course, but the character is really important.
“We took a lot of time to know the players, to talk with everybody before we bring a player to our group. That is going to be massive in our decision to bring players.”
Transfermarkt value him at £8.68million and given he has the qualities Amorim seeks from new arrivals, he could prove to be an absolute steal as a possible Baleba alternative.
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