Carlos Baleba made his highly-anticipated debut for Manchester United on Friday afternoon in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
The Cameroon international has not featured since arriving at Old Trafford from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer transfer window.
He was United’s final signing of Michael Carrick’s first window as permanent head coach, costing the Red Devils a £70million package to move from the Sussex coast.
The 22-year-old had a pre-existing ankle injury upon joining the club, and as such, his debut has been delayed for a significant spell as he has recovered.
Now, however, he is set to hand his manager a huge boost ahead of next weekend’s return to Premier League action, when United host Tottenham.
Baleba could have made his debut off the bench in the 1-1 draw at Fulham last time out, but he was an unused substitute as United stuttered to a poor draw in west London.
First minutes in red for Carlos Baleba 🔴✅
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 2, 2026
United welcomed Lausanne-Sport for a behind-closed-doors game at Carrington earlier today 👇
The midfielder started against affiliate club Lausanne Sport, the Swiss Super League side owned by INEOS, in a secret friendly played at Carrington.
United won the affair 2-1, with several first-team names featuring having not been called up for international duty.
Harry Maguire and Matheus Cunha were among those in action, while there was another big boost for Carrick ahead of the return to club football, as Matthijs de Ligt started in central defence, to mark his first appearance since November last year.
The Dutch centre-back had been out with a serious back problem, and he did not feature at all under Carrick after the former midfielder took over the reins from Ruben Amorim in January last season.
But with the former Juventus and Bayern Munich man seemingly back in contention, his comeback could potentially be a catalyst to shore up United’s leaky defence.
