Brighton Should Leverage Manchester United's Interest in Carlos Baleba for Mason Mount

Warren Aspinall believes Brighton should be ready to turn Manchester United’s interest in Carlos Baleba to their own advantage – by pushing for Mason Mount in return.

The former Seagulls midfielder, speaking on the Albion Unlimited podcast, floated the idea as United continue to circle around Baleba after failing to land him in the summer of 2025.

Mount as the makeweight?

Baleba’s name has lingered around Old Trafford for more than a year. The move never came, and his form dipped badly last season under Fabian Hurzeler. The noise quietened. The questions didn’t.

Aspinall’s solution is blunt.

“I was thinking – if Baleba did go to Manchester United then I'd see if I could get Mason Mount as part of the deal,” he said.

It is not a wild thought. Mount’s United career has stalled since his switch from Chelsea in 2023, interrupted by injuries and inconsistency. Now he faces an even steeper climb.

United have just added Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos to a midfield already being built around Kobbie Mainoo. Aspinall doesn’t see a clear lane for Mount.

“He's not going to be in the side because they've just signed two midfield players in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos,” he said. “Those two and Kobbie Mainoo will be starters, so where does that leave Mount? They have good players coming through in the likes of Tyler Fletcher.”

From Brighton’s perspective, that sounds like an opportunity: a proven England international, squeezed by competition, potentially available if United push hard enough for Baleba.

Baleba at a crossroads

For now, though, the only firm interest in Baleba appears to be from United, and their recent business raises the real prospect that he stays put on the south coast.

If that happens, Aspinall is clear: the next move belongs to Hurzeler.

“For Baleba, the manager has to sit him down in a one-to-one situation and say, ‘look, just get your head down, do what you did not last season but the season before, and they will all come for you then’,” he said.

This is the crux of it. Before the speculation, Baleba looked like a powerhouse in waiting – strong, aggressive, driving through lines with the kind of authority that makes Premier League midfields tilt. Then came the links to United. The big-club glare. The idea of a payday that changes everything.

“Sometimes you get a sniff from a club like Manchester United and you start to think about that big move and big payday but it has not happened,” Aspinall warned. “You have to get your head down, go again, and see where it takes him.”

Brighton have seen this story before: a young talent catches fire, the elite come calling, the player either kicks on or drifts. Baleba now sits right on that knife-edge.

Brighton’s engine room question

Aspinall is adamant about Baleba’s importance to Hurzeler’s project if he stays.

“If he does stay he needs to knuckle down and he can have a great season at Brighton,” he said. “If he plays well, Brighton play well because he wins that midfield battle. If he is at the top of his game he makes his team-mates believe.”

That line cuts through everything. When Baleba is dominant, Brighton’s entire structure looks more secure, more aggressive, more like the side that has made a habit of punching above its financial weight.

So the club stand at an intriguing junction. Do they cash in on a midfielder whose form dipped, trying to pry Mount out of a crowded United squad? Or do they back Hurzeler to rebuild Baleba into the driving force they thought they had, trusting that the next wave of suitors will come anyway?

One way or another, Brighton’s midfield – and perhaps Mount’s future – will tell a bigger story about where both clubs are heading.