Ugarte looked like a hugely impressive young talent during his time at Sporting Lisbon, and though it didn’t quite work out for him at PSG, he looks like a solid purchase for the Red Devils in what had been a problem position for the club.
The Uruguay international could be the ideal long-term replacement for Casemiro in the middle of the park, with the Brazilian ageing and showing signs of serious decline towards the end of last season and the start of this campaign.
It is perhaps therefore unsurprising to see Hargreaves singling out Ugarte in this way, as he told the Metro why he thinks he will be a “brilliant” and “exceptional” addition to the MUFC squad.
Ugarte praised by former Man United midfielder Hargreaves
“I do think they need to improve the balance in and around that midfield, though. All the guys can play and are beautiful players but when you’re in a game, there’s one ball and 22 players,” Hargreaves said.
“If you don’t have it, you got to get it back. I think United, especially last season, had issues with that and at the start of the season, it hasn’t been the way we anticipated with the summer they had.
“Ugarte is going to improve that a lot. He’s brilliant and can be that presser that wins the ball in the middle of the park. He’s exceptional but again the whole team has got to defend a little bit better from the front.”
United had a busy summer bringing in the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, but it’s certainly going to be intriguing to see what kind of impact Ugarte can make once he fully settles in at Old Trafford.
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