Manchester City fell to defeat for the fourth game running against Brighton, but there was one player who may well have caught Pep Guardiola’s eye.
Manchester City are now in a mini-crisis.
The team is getting cut open far too easily, and with the backline looking shaky and the midfield struggling to offer it protection.
And in the final third, Erling Haaland is shouldering a heavy burden, with few other attacking players chipping it. That wasn’t really the case last season, with Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez both stepping up.
The absence of Rodri though is especially significant.
Rodri left Man City fans delighted with his Ballon d’Or win recently, but he will not take to a football pitch for the foreseeable future.
Martin Zubimendi is a player Rodri himself wants Man City to sign, and we will see if the club choose to go down that route.
But Pep Guardiola could do much worse than to at least keep tabs on a player who really shone against City on Saturday night; Carlos Baleba.
Carlos Baleba was excellent for Brighton against Man City
Baleba did not start for the Seagulls against City at the Amex Stadium.
But being 1-0 down at half-time, Fabian Hurzeler threw the Cameroonian youngster on – and it was a move that genuinely helped swing the game in Brighton’s favour.
Baleba put in a big performance in midfield.
As per Sofascore data, he was near-perfect on the ball in terms of his accuracy, completing 18/19 (95%) passes.
He was also combative. He contested 11 duels in just 45 minutes, which was just one less than Pervis Estupinan, who contested 12 in 90 (the highest for Brighton).
Baleba also made three tackles and one interception.
The 20-year-old was instrumental in Brighton’s winning goal, breaking the lines with a pass into Danny Welbeck that took out the City midfield. Joao Pedro found Matt O’Riley who then scored.
Baleba could be a future Man City player
It was hard not to be impressed by the maturity of Baleba’s performance against City.
As disappointing as the result was, there is no denying that the African youngster is a player who could soon be on the radar of top clubs.
He really helped change the game for Brighton. And on Match of the Day, he rightly came in for huge praise.
Alan Shearer said of Baleba: “Second-half it all changed, this guy came on, this guy got amongst them. He showed energy, aggression, I said in the first-half they didn’t get close to them – he did.
| Carlos Baleba for Brighton this season (all competitions) |
| Appearances – 11 |
| Minutes played – 772 |
| Goals – 2 |
| Assists – 2 |
| Pass accuracy – 89% |
| Percentage of dribblers tackled – 59% |
| Yellow/red cards – 1/0 |
“He got into them and he rattled them. Brighton were a completely different team in the second-half and it all started because of him.”
Baleba has only been with Brighton since the summer of 2023 after transferring for £23 million from Lille, and may not be due for a move until at least next summer.
But City should be at least keeping tabs on this young defensive midfielder who can pass, press, tackle and drive. He also contributes in the final third, like Rodri does, as evidenced by his four goal contributions this term.
Baleba has admitted that City star Rodri is a player he looks to learn from, and it would be great to see him perhaps become a teammate of the Spaniard at the Etihad Stadium in the future.
