The £65m deal for Carlos Baleba was the final piece of business conducted by Manchester United in the summer transfer window.
Manchester United completed their midfield rebuild by signing Carlos Baleba from Brighton in a £65 million deal and the 22-year-old penned a five-year contract keeping him at Old Trafford until at least 2031.
It has been a noticeable strategy from Ineos this summer to invest shrewdly in players who may just spend the next decade playing for the Red Devils.
And when it comes to Baleba, United have agreed a very reasonable salary with the young midfielder.
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In previous years, United’s wages grew out of control under Glazer ownership.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was determined not to repeat the mistake of handing out huge, undeserving contracts, and now United’s wage bill has dropped to a reasonable £313m; below the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
New signing Carlos Baleba is earning a salary of £4.68m, broken down into £90,000 per week.
When it comes to United’s top earners, it means that Baleba doesn’t even crack the top 20.
Baleba sits just behind fellow new signing Andrey Santos, who is reportedly earning £100,000 per week on his new United contract.
The total cost of Baleba’s deal is looking like a true bargain in today’s market, especially as United were originally quoted over £100m for the young star.
The complete transfer fee for Baleba is a flat £65 million, with £5 million in add-ons to Brighton.
Over his five-year deal, Baleba’s wages will cost United £23.4 million, and that is without considering that the club has an option to extend for a further 12 months.
In total, Baleba’s signing could cost £93.4 million.
But let’s compare to the total cost of alternative target Mateus Fernandes, who cost £85 million for Tottenham to sign.
READ MORE: Man Utd can follow Carlos Baleba strategy by revisiting two potential deals in 2027
According to SpursWeb, Fernandes was handed a staggering £250,000 per week salary in North London, totalling to a whopping £65,000,000 over his five-year contract.
Fernandes will end up costing Spurs £150 million if he stays the course of his five-year deal.
