Manchester United have been linked with Paris Saint-Germain's Manuel Ugarte, with a defensive midfielder once again on United's wishlist in the transfer window.
After a lacklustre season that ended on a high, United are tipped to pursue a handful of new arrivals in the summer, including a striker, centre-back, and a defensive midfielder. Kobbie Mainoo has established himself as one of Erik ten Hag's most important midfielders alongside Bruno Fernandes, but with Casemiro dropping off last season and Sofyan Amrabat largely failing to impress during his loan spell, a new defensive midfielder could be on the cards.
Ugarte is one of the players being linked with the Uruguayan midfielder reportedly on Ten Hag's radar. The 23-year-old moved to Paris from Sporting Lisbon last summer for £50million, so it will most likely take a similar sum to tempt the French club into selling.
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So, if United signed Ugarte how could he perform? We simulated the 2024/25 season to find out.
Man United's 2024/25 season simulated with Manuel Ugarte
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2024 to move Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain to United in the summer transfer window before simulating the 2024/25 season. This is how the midfielder performed.
Ugarte was thrown into the United starting XI from the get-go, with the Uruguayan alongside Mainoo and Fernandes in midfield. By the end of the season, Ugarte had established himself as a key player for United in what was starting to look like an incredible transfer.
Fernandes (47) was the only United midfielder to play more games than Ugarte (42), with the 23-year-old also grabbing one goal and eight assists across all competitions. What impressed the most was his average rating per 90, with his 7.12 the highest of all the United midfielders and the second highest in the entire squad, only behind Luke Shaw (7.23).
At the end of the 2024/25 season, Football Manager 2024 put together an overall best United XI, based on performances, statistics, and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full United best XI: (4-3-3): Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Ugarte, Fernandes, Mainoo; Garnacho, Hojlund, Rashford.
As expected, Ugarte's fantastic debut season saw him join Mainoo and Fernandes in the United best XI, with Ten Hag setting up in a 4-3-3 in the simulation. Harry Maguire partnered Lisandro Martinez in defence, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka also made the team, with Diogo Dalot moving to PSG in the January transfer window.
With Ugarte in the side, United's midfield was one of the most complete in the league and the impact was clear to see in the Premier League. Ten Hag's side finished third in the table.
Twenty four wins, six draws, and eight losses saw United end the campaign on 78 points, 18 more than last season. Only Liverpool and Manchester City finished higher than United, with City losing just one game all season as they picked up a whopping 97 points.
Away from the league, ten Hag continued his record of winning a trophy every season, with Rasmus Hojlund and Maguire scoring as they beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final. United were unable to defend their FA Cup as they lost 3-1 to Liverpool in the third round, while their Europa League journey ended after a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Arsenal in the quarter-finals .
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