Overview

• United agreed personal terms with Carlos Baleba, but Brighton's valuation reported at around £100–£115m led the club to defer a deal.
• Reports indicate the club expect to revisit Baleba in a future window, with January discussed as a likely opportunity.
• Jason Wilcox advocated signing a scorer and Sir Jim Ratcliffe backed that direction, shaping a window that prioritised attack over midfield.
• United spent over £200m on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko among others, while choosing not to add a central midfielder.
• With midfield left untouched, local reporting flags possible free‑agent stopgaps such as Christian Eriksen, Josh Brownhill and Alex Oxlade‑Chamberlain.