Manchester United Waited a Year for Carlos Baleba… Now We Know Why

A Manchester United fan tried to personally crowdfund this transfer — target, £120 million. He raised £5. Eighteen months later, United signed the exact same player anyway, for £70 million, and he walked straight into a dressing room where his own countryman was already waiting for him. Born in Douala to Cameroonian-French parents, the son of a professional footballer, Carlos Baleba's rise took him from a local academy at thirteen, to a serious €27 million move to Lille at just eighteen, to three seasons proving himself at Brighton, a Young Player of the Season award, and a senior Cameroon debut along the way. Then his countryman Bryan Mbeumo landed at Old Trafford and started publicly campaigning for him to follow — right around the time one very optimistic fan tried to fund the transfer out of his own pocket. He raised £5. Manchester United eventually found the other £69,999,995 themselves. Got a football story you think we should cover next? Tell us in the comments. #CarlosBaleba #ManchesterUnited #Brighton #Cameroon #PremierLeague #Transfer #FootballStories #BryanMbeumo