Michael Carrick has confirmed that new £70 million signing Carlos Baleba will be unable to make his Manchester United debut for around three weeks due to an ankle injury.

Following the summer arrivals of Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, the 22-year-old completed his move from Brighton on Tuesday to further bolster the midfield.

United director of football Jason Wilcox praised Baleba as “an elite midfielder with immense potential to develop further”, but fans face a wait to see him play.

The Cameroon international arrived with an ankle problem, ruling him out of Sunday’s Premier League home fixture against promoted Ipswich and beyond.

“He’s got a little ankle issue, so maybe a couple of weeks or so, maybe three weeks,” Carrick said.

“We’ll see but we knew that before, so it’s no major issue but it’ll be great to have him back when we can.”

Asked if Baleba and Amad Diallo could return before the three-week international break, the United boss said: “It’s obviously new, the break to deal with, but we’ll wait and see.

“We’re hopeful but I don’t want to put any deadlines on it just yet.

“Amad won’t be involved this week. He’ll be out for a little bit longer. Mase (Mason Mount) is back around the group, which was great. Trained this week, so that’s a big positive for us.”

Baleba’s injury ruled him out of Brighton’s Conference League fixtures and Premier League opener, with Carrick’s timeline pointing to a potential debut against his former club.

United host Albion in the Carabao Cup before travelling to Fulham on September 20 – their final game before hosting Tottenham after the international break on October 10.

Despite the delay, there is strong excitement about what the 22-year-old can achieve at Old Trafford.

“We’re delighted to have Carlos,” Carrick said. “I think huge potential, massive potential. I think he’s a really exciting signing for us.

“I think the quality that he has, the attributes that he has that offsets a little bit of the balance of the group that we’ve got. Different strengths, different combinations.

“So, for us to have that, absolutely delighted to have him. I think there’s so much more to come from him as well, which with the player that he already is with that little bit more to come is exciting for us.”

United are looking for a response after last weekend’s 2-0 loss at play-off winners Hull marked a nightmare start to the season.

Marcus Rashford was introduced at half-time having been granted additional rest after the World Cup, alongside fellow substitutes Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo.

“We’ve got a squad to choose from. We’ve got a good squad and we could pick we could pick a variety kind of combinations within the team,” Carrick added.

“We’ll pick a team for the weekend but, yeah, certainly the boys are massively in contention.”

Friday is the penultimate day of the NFL preseason slate, and with 10 games on the docket, the NFL DFS player pool is quite robust. One of the matchups features the LaFleur brothers facing off as Matt’s Packers face Mike’s Cardinals. Arizona has rookies like Jeremiyah Love and Carson Beck who could be fixtures in daily Fantasy football lineups for years to come, but it’s another pair of Cards who could better factor into your preseason NFL DFS strategy. RB Corey Kiner entered the week leading the preseason in rushing yards, while his teammate in WR Jalen Brooks tops in receiving yards.

Many teams will be sitting their starters which throws a wrench into finding high-quality NFL DFS picks. Projected playing time should be top of mind when deciding who to utilize in NFL daily Fantasy for Friday. Before making any NFL DFS picks for this slate on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL expert R.J. White.

White is an elite NFL betting handicapper who has cashed huge twice in the world’s most prestigious handicapping tournament, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest. He’s also SportsLine’s No. 1 all-time NFL ATS expert. In addition, he serves as CBS’s Fantasy expert, making him the ideal expert to dig deep on these rosters and make NFL DFS picks. 

Now, White has turned his attention to the 2026 NFL preseason Week 3 schedule for Friday, and just locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.

Top 2026 NFL preseason Week 3 DFS picks for Friday

One of White’s top NFL DFS picks for Friday is Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton. Coach Brian Schottenheimer said earlier in the week that the backup job to Dak Prescott is still up for grabs, meaning Milton should see ample playing time to show his merit. He has 286 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns and a rushing score across two games, leading Dallas in pass attempts in each contest. After the Cowboys and Saints held joint practices this week, New Orleans is electing to sit starters for Friday’s preseason game, which gives Milton even more value in facing backups.

He’s also building around Bengals wideout Colbie Young, who has drawn 12 targets during preseason and leads Cincy with 76 receiving yards. The Bengals are sitting their starters in the third preseason game, just as they did in the second, and Young had a 3-48-1 stat line in that contest. A fourth-round rookie, Young is safely on the roster but could move up the depth chart with another strong showing versus a Philly defense which rested all of its starters last week. You can see the rest of White’s NFL DFS picks here.

How to set NFL preseason Week 3 Friday NFL DFS lineups

White is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers on Friday. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of White’s NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine. 

So who is R.J. White including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Friday, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a DFS expert who has cashed twice in a prestigious NFL handicapping contest, and find out.

The well-performed gelding Althoff is currently sitting fourth in the initial markets for the Group 1 Epsom Handicap, although his connections are still contemplating whether he is truly a miler.

The Yulong family-owned five-year-old has achieved wins up to 1400m and finished fifth in the 2024 Callander-Presnell at his sole attempt beyond that distance. He is scheduled to test the 1500m journey again at Rosehill on Saturday in the Wests Group Macarthur Handicap.

Trainer Chris Waller has earmarked next year’s Magic Millions Cup (1400m) at the Gold Coast as Althoff’s main spring objective, but he is keeping an open mind about the rest of the horse’s campaign.

Waller has indicated that the gelding’s showing this weekend will be crucial in determining if they pull stumps and focus on summer racing, or if he gets another chance to prove his worth in a race such as the Epsom.

“We had (Yulong’s) Mr Zhang up in Sydney and looking at all the horses (this week), and one of the discussion points was that horse,” Waller commented.

“We think he might be a perfect horse for the Magic Millions Cup if we back off him after Saturday.

“A mile could stretch him. But this Saturday is 1500, and if he comes out and wins on Saturday we could think differently.”

A Group 3 placed performer as a juvenile, Althoff did not quite make the grade at three but has arguably returned in career-best form this season. He was a fast-finishing second to Carbonados first-up at Rosehill on August 1 and then delivered an arrogant victory in the Spring Preview (1400m), beating Group 1 performers Attica and Fully Lit.

Attica is a significant player in Epsom Handicap (1600m) markets at $11, with Althoff backed into $15 for the October 3 showpiece.

Explore the leading betting sites for the upcoming spring carnival.

AEW will host All In: London this Sunday at the iconic Wembley Stadium. The upcoming pay-per-view can potentially be one of the greatest wrestling events of all time. Unfortunately, a popular star has likely suffered an injury ahead of the show.

Kyle O’Reilly locked horns with Nigel McGuinness in the semifinals of the Continental Challenge Cup on this week’s AEW Dynamite. This was an excellent match, which Nigel convincingly won. The Conglomeration member eventually shared a picture of himself on Instagram Story where he had a swollen black eye.

According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, O’Reilly might have suffered a broken orbital bone.

“There was definitely fear of a broken orbital bone. He had a big black eye though. I actually saw it during the match, and then afterwards I was told about that he’s got a big black eye and it was scary,” said Meltzer.

The severity of the former WWE star’s injury is unknown. Hopefully, we will learn more about this soon. Had he defeated McGuinness on Dynamite, he would have challenged Jon Moxley for the Continental Title at All In. He does not have a match at the upcoming pay-per-view for now.

AEW star Kyle O’Reilly wants to accomplish many things in the Tony Khan-led company

Kyle O’Reilly joined AEW in 2021. In a 2024 interview with Fightful, the former World Trios Champion said that he wants to accomplish many things in the promotion, but he is not in a rush. He also said that he is happy that he is working for such a massive promotion.

“I really just don’t want to take for granted the opportunity to wrestle in a mainstream company and even have matches again. That’s something I was never really sure if it was going to happen. The fact that I get to be back on the road and earning my living and get to wrestle, the only thing I’ve ever really been good at or can at least make a living doing, that’s the most important thing. Big matches and championships, I’m sure they’ll come as long as I stay the course. I’m not going to get too ahead of myself. One match at a time,” he said. [H/T: Fightful]

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for O’Reilly. Perhaps he will win a singles title in the company soon.