October 15th 2024.
Manuel Ugarte's highly anticipated move to Manchester United has not gone as well as many had hoped. The £51 million signing from Paris Saint-Germain has had a slow start to his career at United, and even admitted that he was not happy when he was asked to play as an emergency central defender during Uruguay's recent defeat against Peru.
To be fair, Ugarte's transfer was completed at the very end of the summer window, which left him with little time to adjust to his new team and their struggling form. This was evident in his performance during the 3-0 loss to Tottenham, where he seemed out of his depth. However, the last two matches against Porto and Aston Villa have shown some improvement, which may have bought some time for under-pressure United manager Erik ten Hag.
Unfortunately, any hopes of a return to form for Ugarte were quickly dashed when he was asked to play as part of a three-man defence by Marcelo Bielsa. The 23-year-old struggled to adapt to his new role and later admitted that he lacked certain qualities as a defender. Despite the team's strong pre-match preparations, they were unable to perform well and ended up with a disappointing result.
Regardless of which position he plays in, there are concerns that United may have overpaid for Ugarte. Dutch football legend Marco van Basten expressed his doubts on the Ziggo Sport's 'Rondo' show, saying, "Ugarte, who cost £50 million, you think, 'how do you even think about paying so much money for that?' That is really bizarre." When it was pointed out that van Basten had only seen Ugarte play in two games, he firmly stood by his opinion, stating that he could see from those matches that Ugarte was not worth the price tag.
Van Basten also criticized United's transfer policy, stating that they tend to sign second-rate players while the bigger clubs get the better ones. He believes that the team lacks a star player who can organize and lead the team, and that even Marcus Rashford, who was once considered a world-class player, is unable to make a difference in the current team.
Despite the criticism, there is still hope for Ugarte to prove himself and for United to turn their season around. Fans can only wait and see what the future holds for the young midfielder and his team.
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