Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand is hoping that Carlos Baleba can recapture the form that led to him being valued at £100m.

The Red Devils signed the Cameroon international from Brighton for £70m, and Ferdinand thinks the deal will end up being worth it if they can get the midfielder back to his best:

“All right, yes, (they) wouldn’t have been on the probably the top two or three in their list, but Baleba, you know, he’s got potential. We’ve seen that he was being earmarked as a £100m player two seasons ago, right?”

“And that doesn’t happen just overnight for nothing. There’s obviously got to have been some football being played in there.”

Fans will have to wait before seeing Baleba in action

The midfielder was injured when playing for Brighton in a pre-season friendly against Strasbourg at the beginning of August.

Baleba suffered ankle ligament damage, which means he is still a couple of weeks away from returning to training.

There is a good chance that the 22-year-old will miss United’s next four fixtures against Everton, Sabah (in the Champions League), the Manchester derby and the Carabao Cup against his former club at Old Trafford.

Man Utd have added depth in a key position

Baleba’s arrival means that head coach Michael Carrick has six options in the middle of the park – including captain Bruno Fernandes.

Some fans are worried that the quality of the players brought in won’t be enough to move the needle if they want to compete for the Premier League title.

However, with United set to play in four competitions this season, it will allow Carrick to rotate without being concerned about the players he is bringing into the starting eleven.

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