Rio Ferdinand reacts to Man Utd signing Carlos Baleba and reveals why Man City star didn’t join
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has reacted to his former club signing Carlos Baleba and has made a claim about Elliot Anderson.
It is now time to reflect on the summer transfer window, and Ferdinand has offered his thoughts on Man Utd‘s business after they largely focused on rebuilding their midfield in the summer.
It was common knowledge that they intended to sign three new midfielders in the summer and they were linked with every midfielder under the sun before eventually settling on Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.
Man Utd were also linked with Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes as the most costly signings, though INEOS ultimately opted for three cheaper alternatives so they could get three players through the door.
On Anderson, Ferdinand believes Man Utd would preferably have wanted to sign the £116m Man City-newbie, but he also reckons that his former club did not want to “blow their budget” on one player.
He said on his Rio Presents YouTube channel: “Man United, there’s no doubt in my mind they were in for (Elliot) Anderson, but there was a a limit to the price they could pay.
“Man United just didn’t go, ‘Oh, we don’t want him. We don’t fancy him.’ They couldn’t go to a certain number that City obviously could because they couldn’t blow their budget.
“And that word is a key word, I think, in this window when you’re talking about Manchester United.”
Rio Ferdinand makes £100m claim about Carlos Baleba
Ferdinand has also commented on the long-awaited arrival of Baleba, who Man Utd initially targeted during the 2025 summer transfer window.
At the time, Man Utd were priced out of a move for Baleba, who was valued at £100m. This is because they had already spent heavily to sign Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
This summer, though, Baleba was available for a lesser fee after he had a disappointing 2025/26 campaign, with Man Utd signing him for around £70m.
And Ferdinand thinks Man Utd have managed to sign a potential £100m player by landing Baleba.
Ferdinand added: “They needed numbers in there to cover for the big games, the more games that they’re going to have this season because they’re in the Champions League. So you need cover. You need more bodies in there.
“Two players that are more about potential in this midfield but still have Premier League experience in Baleba and Andrey Santos.
“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 100 million pound 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.”
