Man Utd news: Carlos Baleba transfer message sent as Arsenal complete raid for key figure

Manchester United look set to welcome some new faces after a member of the coaching staff jumped ship to rivals Arsenal, while there’s an update on one of the club’s £100million targets

Weeks after losing at home to Arsenal in the Premier League, Manchester United have suffered another blow at the Gunners’ hands. That’s after it was confirmed Mikel Arteta’s side have successfully poached a member of the Red Devils’ coaching staff.

And there could be further departures from Old Trafford next year if all goes to plan. Marcus Rashford is perhaps expected to be one of them after a solid start to life on loan in Barcelona, but the chances of that permanent transfer going ahead appear to have suffered a blow.

As for new arrivals, one midfield target linked with Ruben Amorim’s side over the summer looks likely to be targeted again. Mirror Football investigates the latest on those fronts as they look to take their next step in their rebuild.

Coach jumps ship to Arsenal

One name already through the Old Trafford departures lounge is David Horseman, who only joined United three months ago as assistant manager for the under-21s. Having arrived at the club in the summer, he’s now left to take over as elite player development coach at Arsenal.

A Gunners press statement read: “We are delighted to announce that David Horseman has been appointed as our Professional Development Phase – elite player development coach.

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“Under the guidance of our Head of Academy Coaching Luke Hobbs and Academy Manager Per Mertesacker, David will be working closely with our academy coaches, including PDP Lead Ken Gillard and under-21s head coach Max Porter to manage our under-19s in the UEFA Youth League and the EFL Trophy, where we are soon to compete against League One teams Cardiff City and Exeter City, as well as League Two side Newport County.”

Horseman, 41, briefly served as caretaker coach at Bristol Rovers in December 2024 and moved to Old Trafford after they were relegated to League Two. However, his early work alongside United’s youth clearly got the right sort of attention after Arsenal jumped to clinch his signature.

Rashford’s Barcelona dream ‘dented’

The loan life has been good to Rashford thus far, following up a successful six-month stint with Aston Villa by impressing early on at Barca. The England forward celebrated an electric return to British shores on Thursday by bagging a match-winning brace for Barcelona in their Champions League trip to Newcastle, but it may not be enough to earn a permanent move.

Not through any fault of the player, it should be noted, but more so due to the latest restructure of La Liga’s wage restraints. Barcelona have had to deal with numerous complications in registering players and complying with wage restrictions in recent years, with the likes of Rashford, Dani Olmo and Joan Garcia among the recent examples to be affected.

And things look like they’ll only become more complicated in future after La Liga tightened its squad cost cap once more. The Daily Mail reported Barca’s salary limit for the 2025/26 campaign has been reduced to £306million from £404m.

It’s understood the dispute relates to auditors refusing to include around £87m of revenue claimed by the club. That figure accounts for 25 years worth of future sales on 475 executive boxes, but the club have been told they won’t be able to count that as revenue.

Rashford could join Barca permanently for a fee of around £26m should the Catalans choose to trigger the clause in his deal next year. However, the 27-year-old will have to continue proving himself before the Blaugrana decide to take such a punt given the new constraints.

Baleba told ‘stay humble’ after £100m collapse

In terms of new arrivals at the Theatre of Dreams, there are few faces many would like to see arrive more next year than Carlos Baleba. United were linked with a move for the Brighton midfielder late on in the transfer window but pulled out after baulking at his £100m price tag.

And now Seagulls manager Fabian Hurzeler has commented on the player’s response to those rumours after a lacklustre start to the season. Once an undroppable member of the Brighton XI last term, Baleba has now become something of a bit-part player and is yet to play a full 90 minutes for his club this season.

“Everyone has to understand with Carlos, he’s a very young player,” said Brighton boss Hurzeler after Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Spurs. “He needs help from us. He tried everything today. He only had 45 minutes in his body, and it’s something that we have to accept.”

When pressed for his opinion on whether the summer’s brief transfer saga has impacted his player at all, the German replied: “It’s all a lot of theory. We can only guess. For sure, when a young boy reads that there’s interest from Manchester United with a big, big offer, it might affect him deep.

“Even if he’s not saying, ‘It affects me,’ maybe deep inside of him, there is something that affects him. It’s even part of the development, to understand when you play well and a big club comes, to keep pushing, and to stay humble, to stay at Brighton and make the next step as a team.

“And that’s something we have to keep on working with him, and so, therefore, I can’t give you a clear answer if it’s really affected him or not.”

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