Manchester United includes Baleba, Marseille wins, and Messi is fined

Manchester United has reached an agreement with Brighton to include Cameroonian midfielder Carlos Baleba in a deal worth $95 million, according to media reports on Friday.

United coach Michael Carrick has made radical changes in his midfield since the end of last season, and Paliba will be the latest to join him.

The 22-year-old is scheduled to travel to Manchester this weekend to complete the deal.

Paliba joined Brighton in 2023 from French club Lille, and played more than 100 matches with the team in all competitions.

Paliba was not at his best last season after the Red Devils' interest in him, as he started only 23 matches for Brighton in the English Premier League, and did not score any goals.

Belgian Youri Tielemans and Brazilian Andre Santos joined Old Trafford during the summer transfer period, coming from Aston Villa and Chelsea, respectively, to fill the void left by the departure of Brazilian Casemiro and the injury of Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte.

Manchester United, which finished third last season, will begin its league campaign against newly promoted Hull City on Saturday.

Marseille achieved a major victory over its guest Strasbourg 4-0, today, Friday, in the first match of the new season of the French League.

Marseille, which ranked fifth last season, took the lead in the 46th minute through Amine Guiri, and then the same player added the second goal in the 68th minute from a penalty kick.

In the 89th minute, Kilian Abdullah scored the third goal for Marseille, then Pierre Hojberg completed the quadruple in the sixth minute of stoppage time in the second half.

Argentine Lionel Messi, the American star for Inter Miami, was subjected to an undisclosed fine on Friday for slapping Philadelphia's Quinn Sullivan on the back of the neck during the two teams' match, which ended in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee said it imposed the fine “for violating the league’s policy regarding touching the face/head/neck of an opponent.”

Miami player Ian Fry was also fined an undisclosed amount for the same violation.

Late in stoppage time of a tense match, Messi approached Sullivan while the ball was in play in another area of ​​the pitch. After a short verbal altercation, Messi punched Sullivan, who faced the Argentine star with sharp looks.

Referee Philipp Deutsch, who had his back turned during the incident, intervened to separate the players, but did not show any card to either of them.

Deutsch sent off Cavan Sullivan, Quinn's younger brother and teammate, and Italian midfielder Yannick Praet, after they quarreled in stoppage time inside the Miami penalty area.