Aspinall Urges Brighton to Target Mount if United Pursue Baleba Again

Warren Aspinall believes Brighton should think big if Manchester United come calling for Carlos Baleba again – and that means asking for Mason Mount.

Baleba spent the summer of 2025 staring at headlines linking him with Old Trafford, only for the move to stall. He stayed on the south coast, but his form dipped badly in Fabian Hürzeler’s first season in charge. The powerful midfielder who had once ripped through Premier League midfields suddenly looked short of confidence, short of rhythm.

United, though, have not disappeared from the story. They remain the only club with a serious, established interest in Baleba. If they revive that pursuit, Aspinall wants Brighton to be bold.

“I was thinking – if Baleba did go to Manchester United then I'd see if I could get Mason Mount as part of the deal,” the former Seagulls midfielder said on the Albion Unlimited podcast.

It is a provocative idea, but not a fanciful one. Mount’s move to United from Chelsea in 2023 has never truly caught fire. Injury problems and uneven performances have left him on the fringes, and the landscape at Old Trafford has shifted again this summer.

United have just stocked up in midfield with Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos. Add Kobbie Mainoo – now seen as a nailed-on starter – and the path back into the XI for Mount looks increasingly cluttered.

"He's not going to be in the side because they've just signed two midfield players in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos,” Aspinall argued. “Those two and Kobbie Mainoo will be starters, so where does that leave Mount? They have good players coming through in the likes of Tyler Fletcher."

From Brighton’s perspective, Mount would bring Champions League experience, creativity and an instant lift in profile. For Mount, the Amex could offer something he has lacked at United: a clearly defined role and the freedom to lead a project rather than fight for scraps behind it.

There is, of course, another scenario. United decide against returning for Baleba. The transfer noise fades. The midfielder stays where he is.

If that happens, Aspinall is clear: the hard work starts at Lancing, not in Manchester.

“For Baleba, the manager has to sit him down in a one-to-one situation and say, ‘look, just get your head down, do what you did not last season but the season before, and they will all come for you then’,” he said.

That earlier version of Baleba is the one Brighton thought they had secured for years to come: strong, explosive, fearless in transition, able to burst through lines and turn defence into attack in a few strides. At his best, games felt simple for him.

“They would all be after him because he's excellent. He's strong, powerful, breaks the lines very well. It was easy for him in certain games,” Aspinall said.

The warning is a familiar one in football. A young player gets a “sniff” of a giant like Manchester United, and the mind drifts towards the big move and the bigger contract. The deal doesn’t land. The form goes with it.

“Sometimes you get a sniff from a club like Manchester United and you start to think about that big move and big payday but it has not happened,” Aspinall continued. “You have to get your head down, go again, and see where it takes him.

"If he does stay he needs to knuckle down and he can have a great season at Brighton. If he plays well, Brighton play well because he wins that midfield battle. If he is at the top of his game he makes his team-mates believe."

That is the crux of Brighton’s midfield puzzle. Whether Baleba leaves or stays, his level shapes the ceiling of Hürzeler’s side.

Either he becomes the anchor of the next Brighton surge – or he funds a daring move for a player like Mount, who knows all about the weight of expectation at the very top.