How Man Utd eventually sealed Manuel Ugarte transfer
Manchester United identified Manuel Ugarte as a player to add energy and tenacity to Erik ten Hag’s midfield early in the summer transfer window. But actually securing a deal for the Uruguayan, who is now on the brink of signing, has required patience to get to this point.
PSG paid around €60m (£51.4m) to sign Ugarte from Sporting CP last summer. But despite ranking highly in Ligue 1 in both passing accuracy and tackles, he found himself in and out of the team and ultimately managed only 21 starts in the competition as a result. The arrival of Joao Neves from Benfica pushed him further down the pecking order.
While the French champions were prepared to sell, 90min understands that PSG made it clear in talks throughout June and July they wanted to recoup their money. Even when negotiations progressed to potentially include a loan with an obligation to buy, that remained the case.
Personal terms were agreed a long time before the clubs came to an agreement and what helped United was Ugarte’s personal desire. The 23-year-old, who traded his native Montevideo for the small Portuguese city of Famalicao in January 2021, only wanted to move to Old Trafford and was willing to wait for a transfer to be agreed. That was despite formative interest from Bayern Munich.
Patience was a virtue and United were able to strike a favourable deal. The impending sale of Scott McTominay to Napoli for €30m (£25.3m) has been a boost that will both help with Premier League PSR compliance and provide additional flexibility to settle on an Ugarte fee.
All parties are content with what was eventually agreed earlier this week. A generous structure will see United pay an initial €50m (£42.2m), topped up by €10m (£8.4m). It means PSG get their asking price, while they also retain a 10% sell-on clause to boot that only sweetens the deal.
United made the breakthrough on Monday night when technical director Jason Wilcox, part of the new sporting hierarchy assembled in recent months, flew to Paris. Jean-Claude Blanc, INEOS Sport chief executive and also interim United CEO from May until mid-July when Omar Berrada began work, and sporting director Dan Ashworth were both also heavily involved in negotiating. Overall, it signifies the general approach that the new INEOS contingent are taking towards transfers.
The notion that PSG, in sticking firmly to their asking price, were being deliberately hard on United over Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim losing out to Sir Jim Ratcliffe in last year’s takeover battle, has been downplayed by sources. Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), who have controlled PSG since 2011, were only focused on selling on their terms and not making a loss on a player signed just 12 months ago. And QSI were not part of Sheikh Jassim’s bid even though PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was used as a consultant.