MANCHESTER UNITED are poised to sign PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
The club have reportedly agreed personal terms with the midfielder ahead of a £50million move.
A traditional number six who is comfortable on the ball, Ugarte will be brought in to play at the base of United’s midfield.
The idea is he will get the best out of Kobbie Mainoo by providing him with a defensive foundation to progress from.
That should also improve Bruno Fernandes‘ output, unshackling him from some of his defensive responsibilities and allowing him to play a more attacking role.
Ugarte’s most obvious comparison comes with Casemiro, with the Brazillian struggling for large parts of last season.
The two played a comparable amount of football for their clubs, with Ugarte playing 2,450 to Casemiro’s 2,578 – they also completed a similar amount of passes, with Ugarte’s 1,553 comparing to Casemiro’s 1,532.
But crucially, Ugarte’s accuracy was higher – with a pass accuracy of 91.6 per cent comparing to Casemiro’s 82.6 per cent – this should allow United to build attacks more consistently.
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In terms of tackles the two were also comparable but Ugarte made 48 interceptions compared to Casemiro’s 27.
Impressively, Ugarte’s pass accuracy of 91.6 per cent was the highest of United’s six current midfielders – only Kobbie Mainoo’s 86.9 per cent came close.
In fairness to Casemiro, who struggled last season, the Brazilian did register five goals and three assists.
Ugarte will likely not come close to matching that, he scored zero goals last season, and registered two assists – owing to the fact he generally stays glued to the base of the midfield.
Fernandes leads the way in terms of goal contributions, with his 15 goals and 13 assists tallying to 28.
Mainoo also contributed five goals and one assist, despite only coming into the team in November.
Ugarte only played 47 more minutes than Mainoo and made 1553 passes compared to the youngster’s 955.
The Uruguayan made nearly twice the number of tackles as Mainoo and created 14 chances compared to Mainoo’s 19 – but it is important to note that Mainoo favours playing further forward than Ugarte, where pass volume will be lower and generally riskier.
With Mason Mount playing just 755 minutes, it is difficult to compare him with Ugarte.
The England man managed just one goal and one assist last season – but could be moved further forward with Ugarte coming in.
Mount would likely play as an advanced eight, a number ten or on the left of a front three – each should increase his output.
McTominay is another player that has played deeper at times, but added goals to his game last season – playing as a box crashing eight.
He bagged ten goals and registered three assists but could leave this summer.
He won almost half as many tackles as Ugarte last year, 60 compared to 113.
Christian Eriksen had been forced to play deeper in United’s midfield last season, but again has a far smaller sample size than Ugarte when it comes to minutes having played just 755.
He could be deployed in a more attacking role if and when he does play this season, having played as a 10 for large parts of his career and for the Danish national team.
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