Manchester United are said to be interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte to strengthen their midfield.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported that Manchester United have agreed to personal terms with Ugarte. Nonetheless, the issue regarding a transfer fee remains as both teams value the player differently.
French media outlet L’Equipe recently reported that the capital club are asking for €70 million for Ugarte, even though the Uruguayan has already agreed to terms with Manchester United.
In his column for CaughtOffside, Romano provided new information on this file and noted that conversations between the two parties remain ongoing.
“For Ugarte, they remain in conversations with Paris Saint-Germain while they have an agreement with the player,” Romano noted. “I’m hearing there are contacts ongoing between Man United and PSG since June, not official bids accepted or rejected – it’s a constant dialogue between the clubs.
“Ugarte remains on Man United’s list and he said yes last week, so now it depends on Manchester United. But as I previously said, it was always going to take some days to decide after they spent big money on Leny Yoro.”
The high cost might lead Manchester United to explore other options. According to RMC Sport’s Fabrice Hawkins, the Premier League club now looks at Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana as a potential target.
However, Fofana has already agreed to a four-year contract with AC Milan, so it will be interesting to see if this pursuit turns into a transfer.
“In constant dialogue” is absolute rubbish. Once conversations start, reaching a compromise for a deal should not be a problem unless both sides are miles apart. If talks have been ongoing since June, it is now time to move onto other targets as clearly a compromise is not going to be reached.
My guess is that the delay is because of Copa America and the fact that Ugarte is not due to return from his break until the first week of August