MANUEL UGARTE CAN UNSHACKLE TWO CURRENT MAN UNITED STARS AND PUSH THEM CLOSER TO THE TOP OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE - BUT WHETHER HE IS THE MAN TO GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH RODRI REMAINS TO BE SEEN

Manuel Ugarte's primary talents are in winning the ball back in the midfield
The 23-year-old is used to handling the pressure after his stint in Portugal
LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday

Manuel Ugarte will not be the first player to be chewed up and spat out by the Paris Saint-Germain machine.

Manchester United’s £50million signing joins a list including Mauro Icardi, Goncalo Guedes, Jese Rodriguez, Julian Draxler and Grzegorz Krychowiak who arrived at huge cost but never delivered in the French capital.

PSG coach Luis Enrique has made his call on Ugarte barely a year after he was signed.

How Ugarte reacts to his bruising rejection in Paris will surely determine whether he is able to sink or swim at one of the most demanding clubs in the world.

Because if Ugarte thought PSG brought global scrutiny, he has seen nothing yet. With the exception of Real Madrid and Barcelona, no football club on the planet generates as much attention, discussion and debate as United.

Ugarte is a dodgy debut away from being written off as a waste of money by the more zealous members of the United online community.

The good news is that he has the pedigree. A basic rule of modern football is that if Marcelo Bielsa rates you, you’re probably a decent player, and Ugarte is a key member of the Uruguay side who thrilled at this summer’s Copa America.

Life at PSG does not define every player, either. For every Icardi or Jese, there is a Christopher Nkunku or Kingsley Coman.

Yes, both were academy players, but neither was backed by PSG and both flourished elsewhere, with Coman even scoring the winner against his old club for Bayern Munich in the 2020 Champions League Final.

It will not certainly be easy for Ugarte to follow their example. United remain a work in progress and even though Erik ten Hag was given a new contract in July, the Dutchman will be under pressure again soon enough if results are poor.

Here Mail Sport takes a look at United’s latest big buy.

Strengths

Ugarte is a simple enough player to assess. He’s a ball winner. He’ll fight like a lion to regain possession and when he does, he’ll usually play a simple pass to the nearest team-mate.

With Casemiro turning 33 in February, Ugarte could be the perfect heir to the Brazilian and give Kobbie Mainoo more freedom to operate closer to the opponents’ goal.

This isn’t a United panic buy, either: the club were very interested in Ugarte a year ago after his outstanding campaign with Portuguese giants Sporting Club, only for the player to choose Paris instead.

Back then, the feeling was that Ugarte was reluctant to move to England to be Casemiro’s deputy. That shouldn’t be a problem now, as Ugarte is surely being signed to be in Ten Hag’s first-choice XI.

So Ugarte should release Mainoo a little and allow Bruno Fernandes to concentrate more on what he does best.

Having played for Sporting, Ugarte also understands what it is to face a demanding crowd. And if United fans are looking for omens, another of their former players also represented both clubs – a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

Weaknesses

The problem with Ugarte is that his best asset can also become a flaw. Against most teams, his reliable, if limited, style is more than enough. Against the best, however, there are questions about it.

Ugarte has been compared with Claude Makelele, who anchored midfield brilliantly for Chelsea, France and Real Madrid, but football has changed since then. At the elite level, holding midfielders now need to be more than mere destroyers.

That is why Luis Enrique preferred a midfield trio of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Warren Zaire-Emery in PSG’s biggest games towards the end of last season. Let’s not duck the issue here – Vitinha is a more complete footballer than Manuel Ugarte.

The prototype for the modern No 6 is Sergio Busquets. Not only was the former Barcelona and Spain player a brilliant retriever of possession, he was also a master of moving his team along again when he had regained it.

Now Rodri does the job better than anyone and also has 22 goals and 21 assists in 172 Premier League games for Manchester City. Ugarte would be doing well to reach those numbers and PSG have replaced him with Joao Neves, the young deep-lying playmaker from Benfica.

Neves has registered four assists in his first two games – one more than Ugarte managed in 37 last term. That statistic goes to the heart of why PSG were willing to sell him, and why some fear he may come up short at Old Trafford.

Verdict

Ugarte was born the same month United coach Ruud van Nistelrooy signed for the club as a player – April 2001 - and will hope to emulate the great Dutchman, who won four trophies at Old Trafford. There is also the example of Diego Forlan to follow. Although Ugarte’s fellow Uruguayan had his best years after leaving United, he is still fondly remembered by most supporters.

The 23-year-old is used to handling pressure. He made his debut at just 15 for Fenix in his homeland and at 19 he moved to Portuguese club Famalicao – relocating nearly 6,000 miles from home while still a teenager. While the Portuguese top flight is not at the same level as the Premier League, Benfica, Sporting and Porto are European giants with exacting fanbases. You need character to handle that.

If he is used correctly, Ugarte is the type of player who can help United push closer to the top of the Premier League again. Whether he is the man to go toe to toe with Rodri and prevail is another matter entirely.

2024-08-27T21:13:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd