Manuel Ugarte is travelling today (August 27) to undergo a medical ahead of completing a proposed move to Manchester United for €50million (£42.3m; $55.8m) plus a further €10m in add-ons.
United’s move for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder coincides with the English club reaching an agreement with Napoli over the sale of Scott McTominay, after the Serie A side agreed to pay a fee in the region €30m (£25.4m; $33.6m) for the Scotland international.
United have been exploring a deal for 23-year-old Ugarte but were reluctant to meet PSG’s initial asking price, which was around the €60million (£51.4m) fee they paid to sign him from Sporting Lisbon in 2023.
United view this as an attractive deal for what they believe to be one of the best young midfielders in the game, whose performances for Uruguay in this summer’s Copa America resulted in him being named in the team of the tournament.
United had considered alternatives, with The Athletic reporting that they were exploring a potential move for Burnley midfielder Sander Berge, who has since joined Fulham, while a deal to re-sign Sofyan Amrabat was not ruled out.
Ugarte featured in 37 games across all competitions for Luis Enrique’s side during his debut season at PSG, contributing to their Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France victory, and Trophee des Champions win.
Despite making just 21 league starts, Ugarte was a regular in the Champions League group stage, starting five of the six matches. However, he was left out of the starting line-up for all six knockout stage games.
Ugarte began his career at Uruguayan club Fenix before moving to Portugal’s Famalicao in December 2020, and then joining Sporting in the summer of 2021.
Should he move to Old Trafford, he will become United’s fifth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
United opened up the new Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory over Fulham before falling to a 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
They are next in action against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
(ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
