When Manuel Ugarte was first linked with Manchester United, it appeared to be a relatively easy deal to do. There was talk of a loan with an option to buy, and PSG would make a loss on the €60m they sent to Sporting last year.
The 23-year-old was a regular for PSG last season, yet there was repeatedly the feeling the French club, and specifically Luis Enrique, weren’t completely satisfied with the purchase.
In May 2023, Aston Villa were strongly credited with interest and it was reported the Birmingham club didn’t want to pay more than €40-50m.
Around a month after that, PSG went into negotiations with Sporting and ended up paying the €60m stated in the Uruguayan’s release clause.
Earlier today we covered a report from France which claimed PSG don’t want to take a loss on that €60m… and could even ask for €70m.
Manchester United, meanwhile, wanted a loan formula, potentially with those unreasonably high figures as an option which would then be negotiated down.
Florian Plettenberg reports Manchester United are ‘leading the race’ for Ugarte, which isn’t anything new. The Red Devils are said to have the best chance, and the player wants the move.
However, he also claims PSG want €70m.
That is surely not going to happen.
An interesting aspect here is that Ugarte is represented by Gestifute, which is Jorge Mendes’ agency. Joao Neves, expected to arrive at PSG from Benfica for €70m, is also represented by the agency and there’s perhaps an attempt to balance the amounts.
Mendes is increasingly powerful at the Ligue 1 side, yet that should be no concern of Manchester United’s and they shouldn’t pay over the odds for Ugarte.
