Manchester United have a few more days to secure Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte. Nonetheless, ESPN’s Julien Laurens states that the Red Devils are having a back-and-forth on whether they want to pay a high sum for a player who might not be a starter.
The Red Devils have been tracking Ugarte for several weeks, but ESPN’s Rob Dawson reports that the club are unwilling to overspend on the 23-year-old midfielder.
Ugarte is eager to join Manchester United, with their latest verbal offer reportedly reaching €45 million. Still, Laurens relayed information that spotlights the uneasiness the Premier League side are having since the Parisians aren’t budging on their reported asking price of at least £51.5 million.
“United have had two offers rejected already, but they were quite a while ago,” Laurens said on ESPN FC on Friday. “In the last three weeks, it’s been a bit more quieter, maybe because if you look at the game [on Friday], we had a good Casimero, much better than anything that we saw last season, for example.
“It’s not the Casimero that we saw at Madrid two or three years ago, but it’s much better than what we saw… Would you go and spend 65 million or 60 million on Ugarte when Casimero is in this form? You need more bodies, that’s for sure, especially in that defensive midfield role.
“But spend all that money for somebody who might not be a starter in your team, that’s where I think that’s where Ugarte to United possibility is right now. I think they are pondering it because if [Kobbie] Mainoo and Casimiro can offer you a really good season, then the backup doesn’t have to be worth 65 million.”
Diario AS recently reported that Manchester United and Aston Villa are ‘in the picture’ to sign Atalanta star Ederson Silva. As a result, the English club are looking at alternatives should they need to make a last-minute transfer should the Ugarte interest fall through.
