Michael Carrick excited by Carlos Baleba but midfielder faces wait for debut

Michael Carrick has confirmed “really exciting” addition Carlos Baleba will be unable to make his Manchester United debut for around three weeks due to an ankle injury.

Following the summer arrivals of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, the Red Devils further bolstered their midfield by completing the £70million signing of the 22-year-old from Brighton on Tuesday.

United director of football Jason Wilcox hailed Baleba as “an elite midfielder with immense potential to develop further” but fans will have to wait to see him play for the club.

The Cameroon international arrived at Old Trafford with an ankle injury, which Carrick says will rule him out of Sunday’s Premier League home opener against promoted Ipswich and beyond.

“He’s got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, maybe three weeks,” Carrick said.

“We’ll see but we knew that before, so it’s no major issue but it’ll be great to have him back when we can.”

Asked if Baleba and Amad Diallo, another injured player, could return before the new three-week international break, the United boss said: “It’s obviously new, the break to deal with, but we’ll wait and see.

“We’re hopeful but I don’t want to put any deadlines on it just yet.

“Amad won’t be involved this week. He’ll be out for a little bit longer. Mase (Mason Mount) is back around the group, which was great. Trained this week, so that’s a big positive for us.”

Baleba’s injury ruled him of Brighton’s Conference League fixtures and Premier League curtain raiser and the timescale mentioned by Carrick suggests he might make his debut against his former club.

United welcome Albion in the Carabao Cup before travelling to Fulham on September 20 – their last match until hosting Tottenham after the