On Thursday, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported that Manchester United and Manuel Ugarte have agreed on personal terms, marking the first steps towards his move to Old Trafford.
Romano mentioned that the contract terms have been discussed, and the player is eager to join United even though they aren’t in the UEFA Champions League. The next step is for the Red Devils to agree on a transfer fee with Paris Saint-Germain to finalize the deal.
While speaking on the latest PSG Talking Podcast, Robin Bairner, chief editor of Football Transfers, discussed the Ugarte file and how he sees the situation playing out.
“I really like Manuel Ugarte as a player,” Bairner said. “I think he’s an excellent defensive midfielder and I think he’ll do well at Manchester United. But equally, if you’ve got a player sitting there who the coach doesn’t want, what’s the point in him being there? Clearly, Luis Enrique was not pleased with him in the second half of the season, which kind of puzzles me because he was so strong in the first part of the campaign.
“But there’s clearly a disconnect there, so there’s no point in wasting a talent of his ability just rotting on the bench. Luis Enrique seems to be at PSG for the long run. There’s no apparent prospect of him leaving the club. So I think it’s probably best for everybody involved that Ugarte leaves. And I think it’s a win-win situation.
“PSG will get a healthy transfer fee for him. Manchester United will get a very good player at a reasonable price and Ugarte will hopefully get the first team football that he deserves because as I say, he’s an outstanding talent and somebody who deserves to be playing regularly but just his face doesn’t fit in this PSG team unfortunately.”
On Friday, journalist Ben Jacobs reported that PSG are sticking to their valuation of Ugarte and isn’t in a rush to sell him. Additionally, L’Equipe mentioned that the club is asking for €70 million for Ugarte, despite the Uruguayan having already agreed to terms with Manchester United.
It’ll be interesting to see if PSG sticks to their asking price even after securing João Neves, especially since they’ll need to offload a midfielder to make room in the squad and balance the books.
