Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte has issued a warning to Erik ten Hag about his role in the middle of the park for the team.
Ugarte has been one of the most exciting midfield prospects in the last few years but since his move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, things have gone downhill for the Uruguay international.
While at Sporting CP in Portugal, the 23-year-old made a name for himself as a tough-tackling midfielder who provided great cover for his teammates in both attack and defence. This led to many clubs developing an interest in him, inadvertently causing a transfer battle which PSG won by forking out €60 million.
He had a great start to life at Parc De Princes but eventually found adaptation difficult, leading to his exit only a season after he joined the French giants. Man United paid around the same amount to PSG for Ugarte, which ensured that the French team did not make much of a loss on the player.
That transfer now looks to be an error following his shambolic introduction to the Red Devils set-up. Many are excusing his poor performances as a side-effect of the team’s overall malaise under Erik ten Hag, but the fact that Ugarte has also not shone for Uruguay in a number of games has begun to raise more eyebrows.
His latest performance in their 1-0 loss to Peru in the South American FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament, where Marcelo Bielsa fielded him as part of a back three, has come under scrutiny.
Ugarte has now come out to defend his and his team’s performances while sending a message to ten Hag which suggests that the Dutch manager should figure out a different way to use him when regular activities resume at Manchester United.
“It was not a good match,” he told ESPN. “We did not play well, it was a shame because I still believe that we are much better, but the match was ugly for us. The dressing room was strong before the match, the atmosphere was nice, but little by little we faded and we did not show good things in the match.”
“Everyone can play and has the conditions to do so, but many times, when changing players it takes a little [time] to adapt. It is not an excuse either, the team’s performance dropped. We need to go deeper, as we saw against Peru, we have to keep working.”
“Honestly, I felt good with the ball, but I lack certain things as a defender. These are things that always enrich a player.”
