Manchester United transfer: Manuel Ugarte will sign for the Red Devils according to reports, but how will he fit in?

Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte is reportedly travelling to England on Tuesday ahead of his medical with Manchester United, moving a long-awaited move closer to completion during a busy summer for the club.

According to The Athletic, United will have to pay Paris Saint-Germain a transfer fee of €60 million for Ugarte’s services. It’s a deal that reportedly includes an additional €10 million add-on and a 10 percent sell-on clause for the French club. The midfielder has been linked to United since the start of the summer, but the two clubs reportedly disagreed on the financial structure of the deal for some time. The situation forced United to consider other options such as new Fulham signing Sander Berge and re-signing Sofyan Amrabat after he spent last season on loan at United.

However, Erik Ten Hag’s side will get their favorite target after an impressive year. He was a key player for PSG in the first half of the season, but his role diminished. He returned to play all six games for Uruguay at the Copa America, making the tournament’s best team and helping his national side finish third.

Ugarte has become United’s biggest signing this summer, a list that includes defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Lenny Yoro, and forward Joshua Zirkzee. However, given their need as a defensive midfielder, the Uruguayan could be one of their most important newcomers this season.

Last season United struggled in the middle of the field, appearing unbalanced and producing inconsistency in one team performance after another during a chaotic campaign. The struggles from a defensive perspective were incredibly evident when Ten Hag decided that a strategy in which the team absorbs pressure from the opposition was the best way forward, but mixed results followed, with United finishing eighth in the Premier League last season, their lowest ever position in the Premier League, conceding 58 goals and ending the campaign with a -1 goal difference. They conceded 680 shots last season, the second most for any Premier League team and only behind relegated team Sheffield United.

It’s still early in the season, but things may not have improved. While they held Fulham to just two shots and 0.44 expected goals, they conceded 10 shots in a 1-0 win on opening day and then faced 14 shots and 2.09 expected goals in a 2-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

Targeting and signing Ugarte is a smart move on the part of United, who will reap the most from his inclusion once he is ready to play. However, whether or not he acts as a one-man solution to a major problem remains to be seen as Ten Hag and company aim to improve for the 2024-25 campaign.