Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has revealed that new signing Carlos Baleba will need up to three weeks to recover from an ankle injury before he can make his debut for the club.
Baleba completed a £70 million move from Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday, becoming the third midfield addition of the summer after Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. However, the Cameroon international arrived at Old Trafford already carrying an ankle problem, sustained during a pre-season friendly win over Strasbourg earlier this month, which will keep him out of Sunday's Premier League clash with newly promoted Ipswich Town.
"He's got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, maybe three weeks," Carrick told reporters in his pre-match press conference. "We'll see but we knew that before, so it's no major issue but it'll be great to have him back when we can."
The injury had already prevented Baleba from featuring for Brighton in Conference League action and their Premier League season opener. Under Carrick's timeline, the 22-year-old could be in contention to face his former club when United host Brighton in the Carabao Cup, or potentially return for the away trip to Fulham on September 20 - United's last fixture before an extended international break.
When pressed on whether Baleba, or fellow injury absentee Amad Diallo, might feature before that break, Carrick was cautious. "It's obviously new, the break to deal with, but we'll wait and see," he said. "We're hopeful but I don't want to put any deadlines on it just yet."
Despite the wait, Carrick made clear that the club's excitement over the deal remains undimmed. United had long targeted Baleba, and director of football Jason Wilcox previously described him as "an elite midfielder with immense potential to develop further."
"We're delighted to have Carlos," Carrick said. "I think huge potential, massive potential. I think he's a really exciting signing for us. 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. So, for us to have that, absolutely delighted to have him. I think there's so much more to come from him as well, which with the player that he already is with that little bit more to come is exciting for us."
On the wider injury front, Carrick confirmed Amad Diallo will remain sidelined for the Ipswich match and beyond. "Amad won't be involved this week," he said. "He'll be out for a little bit longer." More positively, Mason Mount - who has not played since limping off in a pre-season friendly against Paris Saint-Germain on August 8 - is back involved with the squad. "Mase is back around the group, which was great. Trained this week, so that's a big positive for us," Carrick added.
Matthijs de Ligt also won't be available against Ipswich as he continues building fitness following back surgery that has kept him out since November, while Manuel Ugarte remains a long-term absentee after undergoing surgery on a serious knee injury sustained on World Cup duty with Uruguay this summer.
United will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing start to the campaign, having lost 2-0 away to promoted side Hull City last weekend. Marcus Rashford, Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo were all introduced from the bench in that game, with Rashford given extra rest following his involvement at the World Cup.
"We've got a squad to choose from. We've got a good squad and we could pick a variety of combinations within the team," Carrick said. "We'll pick a team for the weekend but, yeah, certainly the boys are massively in contention."
Based on reporting from Independent Football and Standard Football.