This Man United Midfielder NEEDS to be Sold This Season

INEOS ARE YOU MAD?! - Why Man Utd NEED to Cut Losses and Sell Mega-Flop Midfielder

If you ask any Manchester United fan which current player they dislike most, there will likely be a range of answers; Patrick Dorgu will surely be on the list, as will Joshua Zirkzee, and all of Tyrell Malacia, Harry Maguire and Mason Mount are or were in the same discussion.

However, one name will crop up more than the rest, and that is £52 million midfield man Manuel Ugarte. Purchased for just that price tag from PSG last summer, hopes were high for the Uruguayan - he had struggled in the French top flight, but presented with a new league and a different style, he looked as if he could be a quality signing.

So far, he has been anything but - in 57 games for the Red Devils, the defensive midfielder has failed to displace an ageing, slow Casemiro and has seen his spot taken by Bruno Fernandes, despite the Portuguese wizard being a far more offensively minded player.

In recent times, he has also become something of a curse for Ruben Amorim’s side - their defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday was the seventh consecutive game they had lost when Ugarte had featured from the start, raising questions as to whether United are better off with him or without him.

Manuel Ugarte’s last 7 matches as a starter:

0 Wins
0 Draws
7 Losses

INEVITABLE. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Su1zo041fn

— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) December 22, 2025

Looking lost, out of place and bereft of confidence, many wonder why United decided to get him in the first place, and surely now even Jim Ratcliffe and his company Ineos are pondering over next steps.

Why did Manchester United Buy Ugarte?

Well, the root cause of United’s £52 million (with add-ons) purchase last summer stems from Ugarte playing under Amorim in their time together at Sporting Lisbon.

Both won trophies in Portugal, although it must be said that much of Amorim’s success came after Ugarte’s £52 million move to France in the summer of 2023 - the Uruguayan one a solitary Taca de Portugal under Amorim’s guidance.

Nevertheless, the midfielder was impressive in the current United manager’s Sporting system, averaging 7.25 (according to FotMob) across two seasons under him, and earning him the reputation of one of the most promising defensive midfielders around.

However, he lost a lot of momentum in his time at PSG - staying in Paris for all of one season, he began as a starting midfielder and ended as a bench option to call upon if the game state needed changing, his starting spot poached by the likes of Carlos Soler and Vitinha.

His 12 months in France saw him add three more trinkets to his trophy cabinet, these being the Ligue 1 title, the Trophée des Champions, and the Coupe de France, but outside of that, he garnered little else, save for a little extra top-flight experience.

He quickly became linked with a host of clubs, including Chelsea and Liverpool, but eventually it was United who snapped him up, with Erik ten Haag still in charge.

🚨 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥: Manchester United sold Scott McTominay so they could buy Manuel Ugarte. pic.twitter.com/1Ytl2u2kVM

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) December 21, 2025

It is hard to pinpoint exactly why Ugarte chose United, as at the time of his move, ex-coach Amorim was still at Sporting - however, the United hierarchy must have convinced him, and could have lured him by saying that Amorim would be the next through the door should ten Haag fail to start the season well.

Well, that is exactly what happened, and with Amorim stepping into the dugout, the stage was set for Ugarte to kick-on in a system he had thrived in.

An Unspectacular Start

Hyped up by the United fan base as the type of player that could see the club return to the glory days of the past, Ugarte was a certain starter for the majority of last season.

However, it quickly became clear that the Uruguayan destroyer he was built up to be was far from what the Old Trafford faithful were seeing on the pitch. Yes, he had physicality and wasn’t afraid to tread on a few opponents’ heels, but the defensive part of his game was distinctly … average.

He was ponderous on the ball, making him far from the best outlet when United were trying to play through the press, and while his crunching tackles had the potential to fill the Theatre of Dreams with a roar, they were equally as likely, if not more so, to be mistimed, resulting in a card.

Manuel Ugarte receiving the ball between the lines: pic.twitter.com/6dfYqihaKR

— Lea (@Lea_EFC) December 21, 2025

Meanwhile, back at PSG’s Parc des Princes, the French juggernauts had replaced the outgoing Ugarte with a certain Joao Neves from Benfica, a talent who would be critical in guiding the club to the quadruple, a trophy haul which featured their first ever Champions League.

Meanwhile at United, Ugarte won zilch, and though the club did reach a final in the form of the Europa League, they failed to rise to the occasion, and looked like 11 deer caught in headlights as Tottenham Hotspur scraped their way to their first trophy since 2008.

🗣️| Roy Keane is not a fan of Manuel Ugarte pic.twitter.com/asw80BHio2

— Shithousery HQ (@satirecen) December 21, 2025

Ugarte didn’t even make it onto the pitch in the final, with Amorim preferring Casemiro and Fernandes to start, and bringing on Kobbie Mainoo as fresh legs later. If any other £52 million signing was left out of the final, there would be outrage; however, in Ugarte’s case, his consistent lack of quality combined with his inconsistency made his absence completely justified.

Though nothing came of the substitution, very few United fans would argue that they would have been better served bring on the Uruguayan.

What Next for Man United and Ugarte?

However, last season was an unqualified success compared to this campaign - the Uruguayan has been dreadful, with United fans groaning at every lost pass, every 50/50 lost, and, although a lot more quietly, every time he takes to the pitch.

He has been the cause of so many grey hairs and frayed tempers in the United fanbase that they rarely call him by name when picking up on a horror show. Instead, he is simply labelled, “INEOS, ARE YOU MAD?” referring to Jim Ratcliffe’s decision to sanction his big money move.

“INEOS are you MAD!”

pic.twitter.com/dnqzju14o3

— WelBeast (@WelBeast) December 22, 2025

It is clear that, unless Ugarte improves significantly, he will not be playing a big part in Amorim’s first-team plans in the near future - despite the squad crying out for a world-class midfield signing, Amorim still sticks with the Casemiro/Bruno pivot, one which, while excellent on occasions, will never be complete so long as Fernandes is there.

Better suited to a more advanced position, Bruno’s talents are being wasted in deeper positions, and Amorim will surely be in the market for a more obviously talented midfield enforcer, a player who doesn’t just look good in compilation videos on YouTube.

£52 million is a lot of money to recoup, and with FotMob placing his market value at a maximum of £43 million, United will be lucky if they get the full fee. Honestly, I am surprised his value isn’t lower.

Given his lack of playing time (he has featured in just three of the last eight) and his ever-diminishing confidence forcing him into his shell, that figure will simply continue to drop until eventually someone poaches him for a fraction of the former price.

Manchester United aren’t what they used to be at the moment and need a clear out but my god Manuel Ugarte is bad.

I remember watching bits of him at Sporting and he looked good but I think they genuinely looked better when Lisandro Martínez came on in midfield which says alot 😅 pic.twitter.com/nnwEfoDs15

— 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 (@TotalVilla_) December 22, 2025

Amorim needs to stick or twist - either he sells Ugarte and brings in a like-for-like replacement, or he puts trust in the man that served him so well at Sporting. From a human point of view, my choice would be the latter - Amorim knows what he is capable of and simply needs to figure out how to squeeze that level out of his man.

But from a football perspective, time is virtually nonexistent in football, and the longer Ugarte underperforms, the poorer United’s results become, and the less attractive they become as a potential destination to a new player.

Ugarte’s time at Manchester United is up as far as I’m concerned, and barring a Christmas miracle, he will be lucky to still be at the club come the start of next season.