At the end of an endless negotiation, Manuel Ugarte left Paris Saint-Germain to sign for Manchester United in the last moments of the summer transfer window, bringing in 50 ME in the process to the Parisian club.
Manuel Ugarte will not leave a lasting memory among Paris Saint-Germain supporters. Recruited in the summer of 2023, the Uruguayan international played 37 matches for the Parisian club, before packing his bags and joining Manchester United last August. A starter at the start of the season, the 23-year-old was quickly sidelined by Luis Enrique, not a fan of his profile and who then preferred elements like Warren Zaire-Emery, Fabian Ruiz or Vitinha. Very early in the transfer window, Manchester United showed interest in Manuel Ugarte, to the point of making him a real priority in the defensive midfielder position.
The negotiations were long, because the file was linked for a time to that of Jadon Sancho. The English winger finally joined Chelsea, which did not prevent Manchester United from completing the arrival of the Uruguayan international (23 caps) at a high price, namely 50 million euros. Two months after his transfer, Manuel Ugarte is already in trouble at Manchester United, where he has only played five games and where Erik Ten Hag does not make him a full-fledged starter at the moment. On English television, legend Marco van Basten commented on Manuel Ugarte’s first steps with the Red Devils.
Ugarte fails to win at Manchester United
And the least we can say is that the former AC Milan and Ajax Amsterdam striker was not kind to the ex-Parisian. “How could Erik Ten Hag decide to spend 50 million euros on Ugarte? It’s really weird… I only needed two games to see that he’s not even worth 25% of that amount.” launched the consultant, who applauds PSG with both hands because according to him, it is certainly the French champion who carried out a great operation by drawing 50 million euros from the sale of Manuel Ugarte. Time will tell whether Marco van Basten was right or not but for now, it is clear that the Uruguayan midfielder has failed to establish himself in the Manchester United midfield.
