Albion Analytics: Carlos Baleba

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The Cameroonian midfielder joined us from Lille last month.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2023-09-07T06:00:00Z

Carlos was introduced to the crowd ahead of our win against Newcastle.

Albion announced the signing of 19-year-old Carlos Baleba from Lille in the closing stages of the summer transfer window.

It was their seventh signing of the summer in a window where the average age of the acquisitions was 23.3 years old — a commitment to bringing in young talent.

It is notable that Baleba follows the same pathway that Yves Bissouma did in 2018, joining Albion from Lille, and as a central midfielder he naturally draws stylistic comparisons to the Malian.

De Zerbi described him as “the future of the club” and a “young but a specific player for our style.” The left-footed midfielder is a graduate of the Lille academy, the tenth youngest debutant in the last 15 years from a club that have alumni featuring Divock Origi, Eden Hazard and Lucas Digne.

That footballing education, and particularly Lille’s play style, is encouraging for him suiting Albion’s style. Lille had the second-highest possession in Ligue 1 last season (60.5%, behind Paris Saint-Germain’s 60.7%). Understat ranked their PPDA — opposition passes allowed per defensive action, a measure of defensive intensity with a lower number meaning more intense — as the third most intense (lowest) behind Marseille and Lyon.

Simply put, they were high-possession and high-pressing, exactly how Brighton play. “We have an obligation with supporters to create a spectacle, a good show. That is the obligation of the coach,” said Lille head coach Paulo Fonseca last season. “I want to win every game but just winning is not enough for me. I have to be offensive and dominate the games and have an offensive midfield and show courage in the game. These are things which will die with me.”

It is an incredibly similar philosophy to De Zerbi, which is why Baleba could be such a promising match. Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, Juventus’ Manuel Locatelli and Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana all ranked inside his ten most similar statistical matches last season, for style comparisons.

That he has only appeared 23 times in two seasons for Lille is a fair point of contention. He has played just 686 minutes and only made eight starts, yet to complete a full 90. But Baleba is the youngest Lille debutant so far under Fonseca, an 84th minute substitute in Lille’s 4-1 win over Auxerre on the opening day of last season.

“For me the age is not important. What is important is how they work,” said Fonseca. “How they understand the tasks in the team. Carlos is playing, a player who came from the B team… when they deserve (to play), it’s easy for me.”

It is a small sample size but Lille did not lose any of the six games Baleba started last season: 0-0 away to Stade Brestois, a 5-1 win at home to Troyes in the league and a 2-0 home Coupe de France win against the same opponents, 0-0 at home to Clermont Foot, a 2-1 win at home to Marseille and a 2-1 win at home to Nantes.

SofaScore’s algorithm rates his performance against Nantes as the pick of the bunch. Baleba played alongside Benjamin Andre in a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 — the very system De Zerbi prefers. Baleba had 58 touches, completed 43 of his 52 attempted passes (four progressive passes), recovered the ball seven times, was successful with all three dribbles, won three fouls and attempted three shots too.

His senior Lille debut, the 2-0 Coupe de France win over Troyes, was a similar performance. 60 out of 64 passes completed, three shots, three dribbles and six fouls won. In-possession, Baleba is very much a triple threat, a fantastic ball-carrier and turner, as well as a neat passer and offers final-third impact, too.

Baleba’s two biggest contributions to Lille’s seasons were fouls won. He won penalties in consecutive games against Marseille and Nantes in May, for the equaliser and the match-winner respectively as Lille won both games.