Sky Sports journalist is now hearing something different about Man Utd and Ugarte this afternoon

Manchester United’s pursuit of Manuel Ugarte looked all but dead and buried thanks to a report from The Athletic journalist David Ornstein over the past day, with the Red Devils thought to have buried a move for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder over valuation differences. However, a new report suggests that United could still finalise a deal for the former Sporting Lisbon midfielder – with the clubs still believed to be in contact over a potential deal for the midfield metronome.

Ugarte only signed for PSG last summer but despite a relatively decent spell in the French capital, the French club are thought to be wanting to move him on this summer with other midfielders such as Warren Zaire-Emery and Vitinha doing well over the course of the last season. Having ousted Chelsea to his signing last summer, the midfielder is still a wanted target across various clubs throughout Europe and despite United reportedly retracting their interest in his signing, Plettenberg believes that they could reignite a deal with the clubs being in contact.

The report from Plettenberg states that Ugarte would still like to join United with the clubs ‘remaining in contact’, as he is still keen on the project that was presented to him at Old Trafford.

Despite there being no agreement on the horizon between United and PSG, the scope for a starting berth at Old Trafford would be presented to the Uruguayan and with PSG evidently keen to move him away from the Parc des Princes if an offer comes in, a deal could still be done.

In terms of a transfer fee being met, there is still a huge gap in valuation, but the teams to remain in contact over a potential deal that could be resurrected by the time the August transfer window comes to a close.

United evidently have the money ready for a move, though with a double deal for Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich still to push through alongside the transfer of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to West Ham United, any finalisation of a transfer for Ugarte may have to wait in the long-term until those deals are done. We could see Ugarte join the club in the latter days of the window with less pressure on the clubs’ recruitment team.