Godsent Ogbebor
Manchester United midfielder Carlos Baleba is expected to miss around three weeks with an ankle injury, manager Michael Carrick has confirmed.
Baleba joined United from Brighton for £70 million ($95 million), adding to Carrick’s midfield options following the arrivals of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans.
The Cameroonian could miss the start of the season and may have to wait until October to make his United debut if he fails to recover before next month’s three-week international break.
“He’s got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, maybe three weeks,” Carrick said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s home game against Ipswich.
“We knew that before, so it’s no major issue but it’ll be great to have him back when we can.”
Carrick said he was excited by Baleba’s potential and believes his qualities would add a different dimension to United’s midfield.
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“We’re delighted to have Carlos. I think huge potential, massive potential. I think he’s a really exciting signing for us,” he said.
“I think the quality that he has, the attributes that he has that offsets a little bit of the balance of the group that we’ve got. Different strengths, different combinations.”
Carrick was handed the United job on a permanent basis after guiding the club to third place in the Premier League during his interim spell last season.
However, his first match of the new campaign ended in a 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Hull last weekend.
Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Martinez started on the bench after missing much of pre-season because of their involvement in the latter stages of the World Cup.
Carrick confirmed that the trio could return to the starting line-up against Ipswich, while Amad Diallo remains sidelined with an injury.
