Carlos Baleba Out for Weeks With Hamstring Injury: Man United Lose Their $94M Midfielder for Villa, Liverpool and Sporting

Manchester United will be without Carlos Baleba for "a number of weeks," Michael Carrick confirmed Friday, after the midfielder pulled up with a hamstring injury in Tuesday's 3-2 Champions League comeback win over Roma at Old Trafford.

The timeline rules the 22-year-old out of Sunday's Premier League match against Aston Villa and keeps him sidelined through the international break that begins Monday. According to the Manchester Evening News, Baleba is also expected to miss the Premier League game against Liverpool and the Champions League trip to Lisbon to face Sporting CP.

"Carlos, we don't know exactly, but it'll be a number of weeks," Carrick said at his pre-match news conference. "It's definitely not this week, and it won't be any time over the international break. It'll be a little bit longer than that."

Baleba went down just after halftime on Tuesday, clutching his hamstring after a driving run into the penalty area. ESPN reported that he appeared to be in tears as he left the field, consoled by Carrick on his way off. Youri Tielemans replaced him in the 51st minute.

At that point, United trailed 2-0 after first-half goals from Matías Soulé and a Donyell Malen penalty. What followed was one of the most improbable nights of the season: Bruno Fernandes converted a retaken penalty in the 58th minute, and Matheus Cunha scored twice in three minutes, in the 83rd and 86th, before being sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time. The BBC noted it was United's first win in 10 matches in all competitions.

Immediately after the game, Carrick already sounded worried. "It's his hamstring, so we'll just have to assess what that looks like," he told reporters. "Initially, it doesn't look great." Friday's update confirmed those fears.

The injury is a second setback in a short United career. Baleba joined from Brighton this summer for a reported £70 million (about $94 million), but an ankle problem he carried when he arrived delayed his debut. According to The Guardian, he had made only seven appearances before Tuesday, the first of them on Oct. 10. ESPN reported the Roma match was just his fifth start for the club.

For a team that has struggled to control games in midfield, that matters. Baleba was signed to bring power, ball-winning and the ability to carry the ball forward, exactly the type of run that preceded his injury. With him out, Carrick is likely to lean more heavily on Kobbie Mainoo and Tielemans alongside captain Bruno Fernandes.

The schedule makes this more than a routine injury update. United are 17th in the Premier League, separated from the relegation zone only by goal difference, per The Guardian. Sunday's match against Villa (11:30 a.m. ET) is the club's last game before the break, and the other games Baleba is set to miss, against Liverpool and Sporting, are two of the toughest on the calendar.

Villa arrive with their own questions after a 3-0 Champions League loss at Barcelona on Tuesday, and manager Unai Emery, who has been linked with the United job, confirmed Friday he is in talks over a new contract at Villa Park.

There was slightly better news on the fitness front. Patrick Dorgu, out with a hamstring problem, returned to light training this week. The Manchester Evening News reported he has not been in a matchday squad since Sept. 20, and it would be his second hamstring injury of the calendar year. Carrick, though, was cautious.

"He's had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage," Carrick said. "But he's slowly getting back with us, so we'll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend or not."

Friday also marked the 40th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson's appointment as United manager. Asked whether it was possible to return the club to those standards, Carrick was realistic.

"It's not impossible. Anything's possible," he said. "You've got to build, you've got to be realistic... It's not going to happen in a blink of an eye. Success does take time, and we don't like having to spend time, but it does take a period of time to build."

Losing Baleba removes one of the few signings United hoped would quickly reshape their midfield, just as Tuesday's comeback offered a sliver of momentum. The international break gives the medical staff time to work with him at Carrington, but Carrick's wording ("a little bit longer than that") suggests fans should not expect to see him before late November at the earliest.

The short-term question is whether United can turn the Roma result into points without him. A positive result against Villa on Sunday would ease the pressure heading into the break. Another loss would leave Carrick facing Liverpool and Sporting with a thin midfield and very little margin for error.