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'Very weird' - Dwight Yorke confused by Man Utd decision to sign £65m star
Aug 26 2026 10:17 · By Tony Mogan · 21 Reads
Yorke not convinced by United’s summer transfer business (PictureL Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Dwight Yorke has questioned the logic behind Manchester United ’s move Carlos Baleba , left ‘confused’ by the club’s decision to prioritise signing a third midfielder.
With Casemiro leaving the club and Manuel Ugarte sidelined with a long-term knee injury, United have brought in three new options in midfield.
Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans arrived from Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively with the rebuild completed this week with Carlos Baleba joining from Brighton.
As they did with their attack last summer, midfield has been United’s top priority with close to £150million spend on the revamp.
But Saturday’s season-opening defeat to Hull City demonstrated there are still problems to be solved elsewhere. United’s defence looked off the pace, conceding twice on set pieces against the newly-promoted side despite Harry Maguire, Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw all having full pre-season campaigns under their belts.
United legend Yorke, part of the infamous Treble-winning squad, fears United have spent too much time and money focusing on midfield in what has been a very ‘weird’ transfer window for the club.
‘Carlos Baleba to Man Utd? It’s been a very weird transfer window,’ Yorke told Reviant .
Baleba has signed a long-term deal at Old Trafford (Picture: Manchester United via Getty)
‘Man Utd seem to be concentrating a lot on the central area of the park, where we already have plenty of players.
‘Don’t forget Ugarte, who is injured. We know Casemiro did a pretty good job toward the end of last season, thanks to his experience, but I’m not sure why we are concentrating on that position so much.
Baleba is United’s third recruit in midfield (Picture: via Getty Images)
‘The defensive areas of the pitch are the ones that stand out, and we haven’t been able to address those. So, we’ve added another young player who is still unproven in Carlos Baleba.