Ineos ignored Michael Carrick’s transfer demand by signing Baleba, it’s haunting Man Utd now

Michael Carrick is already under a lot of pressure at Man Utd, but things could’ve been different had Ineos listened to him.

Four points from four league games to start the season have Michael Carrick feeling the heat much earlier than expected at Old Trafford.

There have been mitigating circumstances for each dropped point, but the results are what count at the end of the day, and Carrick hasn’t had good enough of those.

However, could it all have changed for the better had Ineos listened to Carrick’s demand instead of ignoring it by signing Carlos Baleba?

Ineos ignored Michael Carrick’s left-back demand

More than halfway through the window, Man Utd had signed just two players. Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans filled the problem position at the club, but it was far from enough.

The decision facing the club after signing those two players was between two choices. Do they sign a third midfielder, or do they sign a left-back due to Luke Shaw’s reliability concerns?

In an ideal world, the answer is both, but Ineos’ lack of ambition was quite clear in this window, so it had to be a case of either/or. During this dilemma, Michael Carrick’s choice was clear.

He had clearly seen enough in his team to tell the owners that he wanted a first-choice left-back after signing two midfielders, as per David Ornstein.

The problem is that Ineos were so behind the clock by then that their first-choice target, Lewis Hall, was already off the market, so they were forced to sit on their laurels.

Aware of the backlash that ending the window with two signings would cause, the owners ended up ignoring Carrick’s demands and went to sign a third midfielder instead.

Carlos Baleba arrived, and even though it is for a good price and he’s a unique player, that’s not what Carrick wanted for the team. As it is, Andrey Santos is struggling for minutes, so adding a third midfielder instead of a left-back was a poor decision if both weren’t possible.

Ineos looking out for themselves instead of listening to Carrick has come back to haunt Man Utd.

Michael Carrick midfield depth and left-back question

In just the first month of the season, it is already clear that Carrick has more midfielders than he knows what to do with, and not enough left-back options.

He has been forced to play an undercooked Patrick Dorgu in that position, who has been poor, as his other choice is young Harry Amass.

Carrick needs to trust the youngsters more, but to see Andrey Santos warm the bench while there are no left-backs available to deputise for Shaw reeks of poor squad planning.

The Man Utd manager has more resources than necessary for one position, and not enough options for another, and it’s all because Ineos wasted the window before seriously trying for Lewis Hall.

Once Hall was unavailable, their world-class, revamped data system couldn’t even bring a worthy alternative to the fore, and they panicked and signed Carlos Baleba instead.

Baleba could prove to be an inspired signing, but his impact won’t be at the position needed the most. That defence needs serious work and Carrick’s pleas to address it fell on deaf ears.