When Manchester United splashed out a reported fee of just under £50m on Uruguayan midfielder Manual Ugarte in the summer of 2024, most fans would have expected big things from the former PSG star.
However, like so many of United’s big-money signings in recent years, Ugarte has been slightly underwhelming.
Manuel Ugarte was a highly-rated youngster at Sporting
While he is still relatively young at 23, 24 in April, Ugarte was considered to be one of the best up-and-coming youngsters in his position during his time at Portuguese giants Sporting.
When he joined Sporting in August 2021 from Famalicao, he had made just 20 appearances in the European game. He had started his career in his homeland with Fenix, where he had also played just 57 games.
One prominent person responsible for developing the youngster in the Portuguese capital was now Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim. He managed to get the best out of the defensive midfielder, although it wasn’t Amorim who was the Red Devils’ boss when he joined.
He showed faith in Ugarte, who played 85 times in all competitions for Sporting in just two seasons. His performances were high-level. During the 2022/23 season, Ugarte topped the Primeira Liga charts for tackles won and passing accuracy and was second in interceptions and ball recoveries.
His performances impressed French big-spending outfit PSG, who decided to trigger a release clause of €60 million in Ugarte’s contract with the Portuguese club in the summer of 2023.
Ugarte looked like an ideal addition for PSG. The Parisians were looking to build a younger team that could develop into a serious contender for the Champions League after years of attempting to crack European football’s biggest competition by signing big-name stars.
The midfielder made a strong start to his time in the French capital, with the French media raving about the Uruguayan stars’ early displays in a PSG.
However, after a few months, he lost his place in the starting line-up in Paris. At the end of the season, Ugarte had made 37 appearances for PSG in all competitions, but many of those towards the end of the campaign were off the substitutes bench.
It was reported that PSG boss Luis Enrique didn’t feel like Ugarte fitted the team’s style of play. His relative lack of action at PSG led to the French club agreeing to sell the midfielder to United last summer.
A mixed start for Ugarte in a poor United team
Ugarte has already made 32 appearances for United in all competitions, 25 of which were starts. He has had good and bad games in a United shirt, so it would be harsh to call him a flop.
Although not his primary job, Ugarte recently scored a spectacular volley to help the Red Devils claim a 2-2 draw at in-form Everton. It was his first goal for the men from Manchester.
We wanted to bring the win home, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Happy and proud of my first goal here.
Let’s focus on the next one.#MUFC @ManUtd @premierleague pic.twitter.com/EI3F8CNjbQ
— Manuel Ugarte (@manuugarte8) February 22, 2025
However, his talents lie more in recovering the ball and protecting the defence behind him. In Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 one system, he is precisely the sort of player needed to fulfil his role, as he proved during his time under Amorim at Sporting.
Unfortunately for Amorim and Ugarte, the Red Devils have struggled for form this season under the Portuguese boss. Under the current circumstances, it isn’t easy to judge how well Ugarte has fared or will fare in the future at United.
The team is low on confidence and struggling for results. It is hard for any player to perform at his best in the current scenario. United’s recent poor run of form has led to many asking questions about whether Amorim is the man to take the club forward.
However, the club have been down this road on so many occasions, sacking head coach after head coach after the team has struggled to produce results. There doesn’t seem to be any imminent threat of the Portuguese boss leaving the club.
That could be a big positive for Ugarte’s chances of becoming a success at United. Amorim managed to get the best out of the midfielder before, even if it was in a lesser standard league.
United have been disastrous in defence this season, although they have had key injuries at the back at times. If Ugarte can help out that underperforming backline start to keep clean sheets, then he will at least be moving in the right direction of making his United career a success.
He has already proven in both Portugal and France, to a lesser extent, that there is a quality player in there. He just now has to prove it on a more regular basis in a United shirt.