Manchester United have had defensive midfielder issues for a long time. Since the days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure, United fans have cried out for a player to sit in front of the centre backs and sure things up in possession. Failed pursuits of Frenkie de Jong and Declan Rice have forced United to go for players like Casemiro – who justified his price tag in his first season before falling off heavily in his second. The Brazilian’s capitulation has left the club in the same position as a few years ago, looking for a DM.
Recent reports have now linked United with Paris Saint-Germain’s Manuel Ugarte, who joined the club in 2023 from Sporting. With the Uruguayan 23-year-old not being in France for long but wanting to leave, question marks might be raised concerning the player’s ability. However, his stats and on-pitch performances justify United’s interests. Let’s take a look at Manuel Ugarte, and why he might be the perfect player to fix United’s defensive midfield issues.
In short, Ugarte is an assured possession keeper and ball winner. His defensive numbers are great: ranking in the 99th percentile for duels won show that he likes to get involved. This ranking is very impressive on its own, but PSG ranked top for average possession amongst Europe’s top five leagues this season. Despite not having much time off the ball, Ugarte managed to assert himself on opposition attacks at a high volume.
Winning the ball back quickly is a key part of keeping possession, which makes Ugarte a great asset to any team trying to control the game – something that United have struggled to do this season. His 53rd percentile ranking for duel success and 67th percentile ranking aerial duel success also confirm that his efforts weren’t just for nothing, consistently winning the ball back for the team. A 95th percentile ranking for interceptions also highlights his ability to read player’s moves.
In possession, Ugarte’s main objective was to keep things moving, something that he did very well. Ugarte ranked in the 90th percentile for Ligue 1 midfielders for passes completed, and put up great numbers for pass completion of all lengths. Whilst a 63rd percentile ranking for short pass completion may seem like an issue, this ranking corresponds to 90.4% – nothing to worry about.
However, Ugarte isn’t the most forward thinking player. Low rankings for progressive passes and carries combined with that high passing volume implies a lot of lateral plays by the midfielder. Low rankings for creative metrics also suggest that his game doesn’t concern the final phase of play very much. He’s also not much of a finisher – although he doesn’t attempt to shoot much, making this an ignorable problem.
Ugarte’s play style is comparable to the likes of Wataro Endo and Oriol Romeu – defensive midfielders who are tasked with keeping the ball moving and controlling play. He is a real holding midfielder, something that United have lacked in recent years. When United find themselves in the final third, they have tended to rush, leading to low quality shots being taken. Think of those potshots taken by Casemiro or Bruno Fernandes during games that require control and patience. This eagerness has often led to an inability to get a rest defence settled, leaving the team exposed to counter attacks – especially at the end of games. A player like Ugarte will help to slow things down when necessary, allowing the team to dictate the flow of the game and hold onto leads better.
To get a better idea of just how Ugarte plays, a deeper look into a specific match is helpful. One of Ugarte’s best games this season came in a 2-0 victory over Nantes, in which he was deployed as the single in a 4-3-3, between two attacking-minded midfielders in Marco Acensio and Vitinha.
Ugarte completed 80 passes against Nantes, with the highest pass completion rate of any outfield starter. PSG maintained 77% possession during this match, helped by Ugarte’s comfort on the ball. His passes, shown by the pass map, were mainly lateral, from the centre of the pitch outside, and mainly attempted from the middle third of the pitch. Ugarte is brilliant at recycling possession, keeping the ball moving and the team in control. However, his ball playing wasn’t particularly dangerous. Only one pass into the penalty area and not many progressive passes show that Ugarte wasn’t doing much creative work. However, with the players around him, this burden wasn’t necessarily his – keeping things simple was his job, and he did it well.
Ugarte dominated the middle of the pitch, with the majority of his touches being made in that area. Given PSG’s consistent attacking pressure against Nantes (86% field tilt), Ugarte was able to position himself slightly further up the pitch towards the final third, where he could remain a passing option to the attackers around him. He was also able to get back and defend when necessary.
This defensive work was done all over the pitch. His 18 successful defensive actions were made across the middle and defensive thirds, and helped to prevent Nantes from getting any foothold in the game as they could only put together 14 final third passes. In this match, Ugarte was something of a silent metronome, not doing anything ostensibly impressive on the ball, but helping to keep the beat and maintain tempo through simple lateral passes and tenacious defensive work.
Ugarte is a player that would improve United’s game quite a bit. He could be deployed as a single pivot behind Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, allowing the latter to get further forward and shine even more with his technical ability. Ugarte would also provide a good screen for the back line, allowing for more protection than they received with Casemiro. However, being a better cover for the defensive isn’t the only reason why Ugarte would be a suitable upgrade – his availability is much better.
One thing that I expressed concern about with Casemiro before his move from Real Madrid was his tendency to pick up bookings. This carried over to the Premier League, with his suspensions being an annoying thing to deal with for United fans. Whilst 5 yellow cards for Ugarte in 21 PSG starts is reasonable enough for a ball winning defensive midfielder, he did pick up 11 yellow cards in 28 starts for Sporting in the 2022-23 season. This is the same amount of cards as Casemiro in his final season for Real, and so the concern has to remain. With Premier League referees being notoriously harsh in regards to cards, Ugarte will have to be careful to stay out of the book, which could hinder his duel success. However, with adequate time and acclimatisation, Ugarte should be able to figure out how to apply the correct amount of aggression in his game.
Addressing another issue that Casemiro faced, Ugarte has only missed five games in his entire career with injury. Two of these games missed came from COVID, and the other three came from an arm injury whilst still playing in Uruguay, for Fenix. In fact, all of his injuries have come prior to his move to PSG. This makes him a reliable option for Erik ten Hag, who has really suffered with the absence of his players.
Reports are mentioning a deal worth around £50 million pounds for Ugarte, and with the player’s qualities on the pitch, availability off the pitch, and heaps of potential, I think that this would be a profitable signing for United – and perhaps, finally, the solution to United’s defensive midfielder problem.
