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Clearly, Baleba must do a bit more than run fast, and his input must be felt in the dressing room as well as on the pitch.
Sources say an understandable initial shyness and nervousness seems to be being overcome. Baleba is not the most confident English speaker, but he has improved significantly since he moved to Brighton from Lille for £23.2m in 2023.
He has struck up a friendship with
Baleba’s appeal lies less in creativity and more in his ability to win possession, cover ground and then carry his team forward.
His 2025-26 campaign was quieter than the previous one, but his 2024-25 numbers show why United have tracked him for so long. He ranked fourth among Premier League midfielders for possessions won in the middle third (107) and interceptions (46), was fifth for ball recoveries (197) and seventh
Birmingham City have signed Spanish winger Carlos Vicente from Deportivo Alaves for an undisclosed fee.
The 26-year-old has agreed a three-and-a-half year contract at St. Andrew’s and becomes the Championship club’s fifth new arrival of the January transfer window.
Vicente started his career at Real Zaragoza before joining Alaves from second-tier side Racing Ferrol just over two years ago.
He has made 76 appearances in La Liga, scored 12
Everton have triggered the option to sign midfielder Carlos Alcaraz on a permanent basis when his loan spell at the club concludes next month.
Alcaraz, 22, joined Everton on loan from Brazilian side Flamengo in February and will now be signed for an undisclosed fee.
The Argentina Under-23 international enjoyed a productive loan spell at Goodison Park, scoring two goals and providing three assists in 16 appearances.
He will sign
Everton have signed Argentine midfielder Carlos Alcaraz on loan from Flamengo for the remainder of the season.
Flamengo had said the loan includes a “mandatory purchase clause”, subject to the parties meeting certain unspecified conditions, but Everton say there is an “option” to buy at the end of the season.
The 22-year-old previously played in the Premier League for Southampton and started the season with the Saints, before joining the
West Bromwich Albion left it late to deliver their Christmas Eve bombshell that Carlos Corberan was leaving to take over at Valencia.
Santa Claus was well into his round when the announcement came at just 20 minutes to midnight.
But where does it now leave the club? And their now former head coach.
Going back to Spain to manage Valencia may prove to be a risk for 41-year-old Corberan.
Just
Albion go into Sunday’s game with 11th-placed Bristol City sitting eighth in the Championship, having won just three times in 15 games – although 10 of those games have been drawn.
“I can only tell you that my full focus is to prepare the next game,” Corberan added.
“I don’t like that our fans or anyone else at this club can feel any type of disrespect with all of these
Corberan knows the purse strings are likely to remain tight for a while longer as the club tries to stay the right side of the English Football League’s profit and sustainability rules, which allow for losses of up to £39m over a three-year period.
The financial results for 2023-24 are set to be worse due to the absence of parachute payments alongside the continued servicing of debts.
But Corberan struck
It is hardly surprising given Corberan worked with Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds for two years as Under-23s coach, the Argentine’s work ethic has rubbed off on the 41-year-old.
He had to work hard and clever as for the first year he did not pay a transfer fee but the club’s trajectory changed when owner Shilen Patel, a Florida-based investor who has previously been involved as a minority stakeholder in Italian
Mowatt’s double equalled the number of goals he scored in the whole of last season and included his first goal from open play for nearly a year.
“I don’t think I’ve scored two since I was 19 at Leeds,” Mowatt, who scored 13 times in three-and-a-half years at the Yorkshire club, said.
“I didn’t score enough last season and I want to be scoring a lot more regularly. Hopefully