Aspinall Urges Brighton to Pursue Mount if United Want Baleba

Warren Aspinall has never been shy with an opinion, and he’s not about to start now. If Manchester United come back for Carlos Baleba, the former Brighton midfielder believes the Seagulls should aim high and push for Mason Mount in return.

Baleba spent much of last season stuck in second gear under Fabian Hürzeler, the midfielder’s form dipping just as links to Old Trafford cooled after a heavily touted move in the summer of 2025 failed to materialise. The interest from United never quite went away, but the transfer never arrived. The performances followed the same pattern.

Mount, meanwhile, has endured his own stuttering spell. Since swapping Chelsea for Manchester United in 2023, his time at Old Trafford has been punctured by injuries and inconsistency, his role shrinking as new faces have arrived around him.

Aspinall sees a potential opening.

“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,” he told the Albion Unlimited podcast, laying out a scenario that would have raised eyebrows a couple of years ago but now feels far less far-fetched.

United’s midfield has been reshaped. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have walked through the door, Kobbie Mainoo has emerged as a central pillar, and the pecking order is shifting.

"He's not going to be in the side because they've just signed two midfield players in Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos,” Aspinall said. “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."

That’s the crux of his argument. Mount, once a guaranteed starter at club and international level, suddenly looks like a luxury piece in a crowded United engine room. Brighton, so often the club selling their stars to the elite, could be in a position to flip the script if United firm up their interest in Baleba.

For now, though, the “if” still looms large. The Red Devils remain the only club with concrete links to Baleba, and having already added two midfielders in a week, there is a very real chance the 20-year-old stays put on the south coast.

If he does, Aspinall believes the next move is not on the recruitment team, but on Hürzeler.

“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.

This is the Baleba Brighton know is in there: strong, powerful, able to burst through lines and turn defence into attack in a few strides. At his best, he doesn’t just cope with Premier League midfields, he bends them.

“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 insisted.

The suggestion is clear. The flirtation with a club like Manchester United can scramble a young player’s focus. Once a “big move” and “big payday” float into view, it can be hard to look away. Baleba felt that pull. The move didn’t happen. The form went 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 said. “You have to get your head down, go again, and see where it takes him.”

Brighton’s internal message, if Aspinall had his way, would be ruthless but fair: reset, refocus, and dominate again.

“If he does stay he needs to knuckle down and he can have a great season at Brighton,” he added. “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.”

So Brighton stand at an intriguing crossroads. Either they coax Baleba back to the level that first caught United’s eye, or they cash in if Old Trafford comes calling again – and, as Aspinall argues, only on their terms.

Mount, once the symbol of Chelsea’s academy dream and United’s ambition, now sits at the heart of that calculation. Whether he becomes part of Brighton’s future, or remains a what-if in Aspinall’s imagination, may say plenty about how boldly the Seagulls intend to play the next phase of their own rise.