Manchester United Faces Ugarte Stand-Off Amid Injury Concerns
Manchester United are bracing themselves for a long and awkward stand-off with Manuel Ugarte – a situation that, according to reports, Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanted to avoid months ago.
The Uruguay midfielder, signed for more than £50 million in 2024, was already on the chopping block after just two underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford. Ratcliffe, the club’s co-owner and INEOS chief, was said to be personally keen to move him on, with The Athletic reporting in April that he wanted Ugarte “sold” after watching him live against Leeds United earlier that month.
United went into the summer window prepared to cut their losses. The numbers were brutal. ESPN report that the club knew they would need around £20 million to even begin to balance the books on Ugarte – a fee unlikely to arrive given his form and wage demands. Realistically, the best-case scenario looked like a loan, provided someone else picked up his salary.
Then came the World Cup.
Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury playing for Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup finals, instantly killing any prospect of a move. Any hope of a clean break vanished in one moment.
United will at least have some financial relief. His wages are now being covered by FIFA’s Club Protection Programme, which compensates clubs when players are injured on international duty. On paper, that eases the immediate strain.
In reality, it only delays the real problem.
Ugarte is under contract until June 2029. That is five years of commitment to a player United were already prepared to offload. ESPN describe his case as exactly the type of scenario new powerbrokers Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox are desperate to stop repeating: a big fee, big wages, minimal impact, and no obvious exit.
If Ugarte returns from injury without dramatically changing the narrative of his United career, the club will be back in the same position next summer. They will again be searching for a buyer or a loan, again wrestling with a salary that narrows the market, and again staring at the possibility that this drags on for another three years.
For a regime preaching smarter recruitment and cleaner squad planning, it is a cautionary tale they are now stuck living through.
Zirkzee stays – and Carrick backs him
Ugarte is not the only player United tried and failed to move on in the recent window.
Joshua Zirkzee was also made available, but while Ugarte’s situation has turned into a financial and sporting headache, the Dutch forward’s future looks far more positive inside Carrington.
Michael Carrick has made it clear he is happy to keep working with the Netherlands international. Speaking to BBC Sport, the United manager underlined Zirkzee’s importance to the squad.
“For sure Josh is important, for the team, for the squad the depth,” Carrick said. “Josh is happy here and I have a really good relationship with Josh.
“He wants to play more than he has but that is good healthy competition.
“We have a lot of games coming up, we have a shorter period between games, Josh can do some really top things, I have seen it myself.”
One forward pushing to play more. One midfielder United were ready to cut loose, now locked in by injury and contract.
As Ratcliffe, Berrada and Wilcox attempt to reshape the club’s future, Ugarte’s case hangs over their plans like a warning: in this new era of hard-line decisions and financial discipline, how many more expensive mistakes can Manchester United afford?
