Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has thrown his support behind his former club’s decision to sign midfielder Carlos Baleba from Brighton.
The Red Devils found themselves short of options in central midfield after Casemiro’s departure and Manuel Ugarte suffering a serious knee injury that ruled him out of contention.
With only Kobbie Mainoo available as a senior deeper midfield option, the club moved quickly to address the problem during the summer transfer window.
United were initially linked with a string of high-profile names including Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, and Bruno Guimaraes before ultimately taking a different route.
Michael Carrick’s side instead brought in Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, and Baleba from Brighton to bolster their engine room.
Speaking on his Rio Presents YouTube channel, Ferdinand explained that the club needed genuine squad depth to handle a demanding fixture schedule, having qualified for the Champions League.
Ferdinand acknowledged that while Anderson, Tonali, and Fernandes would not have been among the top two or three names on United’s list, he was enthusiastic about Baleba’s ceiling.
The former United defender pointed out that Baleba was being “earmarked as a 100 million pound player two seasons ago,” adding that such recognition “doesn’t happen just overnight for nothing.”
With United reportedly paying around £70m for the midfielder, Ferdinand believes the club have secured a future £100m player at a relative discount, representing solid value in the current market.
Ferdinand also shed light on why United stepped away from a move for Anderson, who ultimately joined Manchester City for around £116m during the same window.
INEOS were unwilling to commit their entire transfer budget to a single signing, instead opting to spread their spending across three midfield additions to give the squad broader cover.
United will be looking to build momentum after a comfortable 5-2 victory over Ipswich Town, with a trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Everton next on the agenda this weekend.