Carrick confirms Baleba return timeline and double Man Utd injury blow

Michael Carrick has confirmed that Manchester United will be without new signing Carlos Baleba when they take on Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, with two other stars also doubts for the Carabao Cup clash.

The Red Devils will be looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, a game they lost despite their rivals being reduced to 10 men.

Baleba joined Man Utd over the summer for an initial £65million, before being sidelined with an ankle injury. He is yet to make his debut for the club, and Carrick has confirmed he won’t be available to face his former side tomorrow.

“Yeah, [he] definitely will be [unavailable],” Carrick said in a press conference. “He’ll be back in and around the group at some point over the next week or so, so that means after [the] international [break], he should be in good shape.

“Carlos came being injured and then he’s desperate to get out there and be part of the group and training fully with the boys. He’s a quality player, that’s why we brought him, and he balances off the dynamics of the midfield particularly well.”

Man Utd are also likely to be without Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt, too. Like Baleba, they are yet to feature this season.

“Amad’s not quite close in terms of days, but we’ll see as the week progresses,” Carrick said. “And Matta’s just working his way back, really, so because of the time frame and how it’s been, I don’t really want to put too much time frame on it.”

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Luke Shaw could return for Man Utd on Wednesday

Luke Shaw has also been unavailable for Man Utd’s last two games, and Carrick has opted to bring in Patrick Dorgu to cover at left-back.

Thankfully for Man Utd, though, Carrick confirmed that Shaw’s return isn’t far away. “He could possibly be fit for Brighton, but it’s not clear-cut. But it’s a matter of a few days rather than anything else,” he added.

“Pat played fantastically well [against Sabah] the other night, and I thought he did a lot of good things [against Manchester City]. That’s why we’ve got the squad, to fill in different things. Injuries aren’t ideal, but we’ve got to deal with them.”

The clash against Brighton is not one to take lightly for Carrick. The competition gives him the chance to lift his first trophy as Man Utd boss, and a victory would help ease the pressure after a somewhat disappointing start to 2026/27.

“Trophies is the beauty and the feeling of winning,” Carrick said. “It’s what we’re in football for, what we’re in sport for, and certainly what I’m at this club for is to try and win.”

“It’s not straightforward, and you decide you want to win and you go and win. Of course not. But it’s important, and I think trophies and achieving things and giving supporters that feeling of the emotion of that is important, definitely.”

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