Michael Carrick has suggested Carlos Baleba could make his debut against Tottenham in October as he looks forward to welcoming his biggest buy into the Manchester United team.
Baleba joined United from Brighton for an initial £65m but was then sidelined by an ankle injury.
It means the midfielder will miss the reunion with his former club in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Old Trafford but manager Carrick expects him back in training soon.
Sunday’s match against Fulham will also be too soon for the 22-year-old but Carrick is confident the Cameroon international will be in contention after the international break, when United host Tottenham and then travel to Atletico Madrid.
“Yeah, [he] definitely will be,” the United head coach said. “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.”
United are likely to again be without Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt against Brighton. Neither has played so far this season with the defender’s back injury keeping him out since November.
“Amad’s not quite close in terms of days, but we’ll see as the week progresses,” added Carrick. “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.”
United have been without Luke Shaw for their last two games with Patrick Dorgu deputising at left-back.
Carrick said Shaw’s injury is nothing serious. He explained: “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.
“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 Carabao Cup provides Carrick with the chance to win his first silverware in charge of United and he said: “Trophies is the beauty and the feeling of winning. 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.”
