Manuel Ugarte tore up his knee at the World Cup. That much we know. What wasn’t clear until now is whether that changes anything for Manchester United’s summer shopping list. According to a report from The Sun, it mostly doesn’t. The club isn’t panicking.
United had already been planning to move Ugarte on this summer. His injury obviously puts that sale on hold. But the club’s midfield rebuild was never just about getting rid of one player. They’ve already locked in a deal for Atalanta’s Ederson Silva for around £38 million. They’re also pushing hard for West Ham’s Matheus Fernandes. And apparently they want a third midfielder on top of those two.
So Ugarte being out long term doesn’t blow up the plan. It just makes the third signing more urgent. According to the report, United have been tracking three names for that extra midfield spot — Alex Scott at Bournemouth, Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, and Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton. All three are young, all three fit the profile of what Michael Carrick seems to want in the middle of the park.
The Ugarte problem shifts the math slightly
Before the injury, the idea was sell Ugarte, use that cash to help fund the third midfield signing. Now he’s both unsellable and unplayable for the foreseeable future. So the money has to come from somewhere else. That’s where Marcus Rashford comes back into the picture.
Rashford just finished a loan spell at Barcelona that went pretty well. Not spectacular, but well enough that some clubs noticed. Barcelona themselves aren’t going to make it permanent after they went and signed Anthony Gordon instead. But there’s been interest from other Premier League sides and clubs around Europe.
United’s preference all along has been to sell Rashford this summer. That hasn’t changed. But they’re not going to force it. The Sun reports the club is prepared to let the situation play out. If no buyer emerges, Rashford is expected to report for preseason training after his post-World Cup break ends. Whether he’d want to patch things up with the club at that point is a separate question nobody’s answered yet.
What Carrick’s midfield could look like
If everything goes according to plan, United would roll into next season with Ederson, Fernandes and one of those three younger guys as their new midfield core. That’s a total overhaul. And it makes sense given they’re back in the Champions League and need to be able to compete on both fronts.
They’re also still looking for a left-sided player, a forward and a backup goalkeeper. So the shopping list is long. Ugarte’s injury just reshuffles the priorities a bit. It doesn’t cancel anything.
Leave a Comment