Manchester United have an advantage over Atletico Madrid in the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte, according to AS (page 22).
The Red Devils are determined to land a new midfielder during the current transfer window and the club are already holding talks with PSG regarding Ugarte.
The Uruguay international has also opened the door to joining United and AS report that they are ‘most likely’ to sign the 23-year-old ahead of Atletico.
The La Liga outfit are ‘very interested’ in signing Ugarte, but they have rejected claims from ESPN that manager Diego Simeone has been in contact with him.
Atletico are only eyeing a loan deal for the former Sporting man. On the contrary, United have the economic capacity to meet the demands of PSG for Ugarte.
Ugarte made the big-money move to PSG from Sporting last summer. He started off as a regular but struggled for a consistent role during the back end of the season.
Manager Luis Enrique preferred Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Warren Zaire-Emery over him in midfield. He was an unused substitute on 14 occasions during his debut campaign.
It is quite clear that Enrique does not trust him and Ugarte would be better off elsewhere.
The Uruguayan has now opened the door for a move to Old Trafford and he would be a statement signing, considering he has all the attributes for the number six role.
Ugarte had a passing accuracy of 91 percent last term. He won an impressive 6.4 duels per game alongside 3.9 tackles and 7.2 recoveries. He would be an ideal upgrade on Casemiro.
PSG have described him as a ‘tireless‘ midfielder and that perfect suits him due to his high work rate. Les Parisiens paid £51 million to sign Ugarte and they could demand a similar fee.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
