Manchester United Faces Baleba Injury Setback Ahead of Key Fixtures
Manchester United’s midfield plans have been thrown into disarray with the news that Carlos Baleba faces several weeks on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury against Roma.
The £70m summer signing left the pitch in tears on Tuesday, pulling up in the first minute of the second half, and initial fears inside the club have now been confirmed: this is not a short lay-off.
“We don't know, but it will be a number of weeks,” said manager Michael Carrick. “It won't be after the international break [that Baleba returns]. It'll be a little bit longer than that.”
That uncertainty hangs over United’s season. Club staff are still waiting to learn the full extent of the damage and whether the 22-year-old will play again before the end of the year.
What is clear is that he will miss a critical stretch.
Baleba had already been ruled out of Sunday’s match against Aston Villa. Now he is also set to sit out the trip to Anfield on 22 November and the Champions League tie against Sporting CP three days later. Those are the kind of fixtures he was bought to influence; instead, United must improvise.
The calendar offers no mercy. United face seven games in December, a punishing run that includes a visit to Arsenal on 20 December, and there is no guarantee Baleba will be ready in time for that either. For a player still trying to lay down roots at Old Trafford, the timing could hardly be worse.
His start to life at United has already been stop–start. Baleba missed the beginning of the season with an ankle injury and has managed only five starts since arriving from Brighton for a fee that underlined United’s faith in his long-term potential. Just as he began to stitch together performances and minutes, his momentum has been cut again.
Carrick must now reshuffle. One of his immediate calls concerns Patrick Dorgu, who is edging his way back after his own muscle problems.
“Patrick's done a little bit of training this week,” Carrick said. “So we've got to be patient with Pat.
“He’s had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage that and be patient with that over the next few weeks as well.
“But he's slowly getting back with us, so we'll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend or not.”
It leaves United walking a tightrope: desperate for fresh legs as the schedule tightens, but wary of rushing players back and risking repeat injuries.
Baleba was signed to be a cornerstone of Carrick’s new-look midfield, a powerful presence capable of driving United through the lines in exactly the kind of high-intensity matches that now crowd the horizon. For the next few weeks at least, they will have to find that drive from somewhere else.
