Manchester United Faces Long-Term Manuel Ugarte Dilemma

Manchester United are braced for a long-running Manuel Ugarte headache, with the club’s hierarchy fearing his situation could drag on for years.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s co-owner and INEOS chief, had already made up his mind. According to a report in The Athletic in April, Ratcliffe wanted Ugarte sold after watching him live against Leeds United earlier that month. The verdict was harsh and clear: move him on.

United were ready to act in the summer window. After two underwhelming seasons following his arrival for more than £50 million in 2024, Ugarte was put up for transfer. The club, ESPN report, accepted that to help balance the books they would need around £20 million for the Uruguay international. Given his recent form and wage level, that figure was always optimistic.

The realistic best-case scenario? A loan. United were prepared to sanction a temporary move if another club agreed to cover his salary. It was a financial reset more than a footballing decision.

Then everything changed at the World Cup.

Injury turns a sale into a saga

While on duty with Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup finals this summer, Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury. Any hope of a transfer vanished instantly. Instead of trimming the squad and the wage bill, United were left with a long-term absentee and a contract that runs until June 2029.

For now, the blow is softened. Under the FIFA Club Protection Programme, United will have Ugarte’s wages covered while he recovers from the injury sustained on international duty. On the balance sheet, that offers short-term relief.

It does nothing to solve the bigger problem.

As ESPN outline, the injury has simply delayed a decision that United will be forced to revisit next summer, and possibly several summers after that. With four years left on his deal after this season, Ugarte’s future risks becoming exactly the kind of drawn-out, expensive stalemate new chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Jason Wilcox are desperate to eliminate.

United wanted a clean break. Instead, they are staring at a situation that “could potentially drag on for another three years”, with the club likely to be back in the same position in 12 months’ time: trying to find a buyer or a loan partner for a high-earning midfielder whose value has dropped.

For a regime that has vowed to bring sharper, more decisive squad management to Old Trafford, Ugarte has become a case study in what they want to avoid.

Zirkzee stays – and Carrick backs him

Ugarte was not the only player United were open to moving on in the summer. Joshua Zirkzee was also available, but his story has taken a very different turn.

While the Dutch forward remains at Old Trafford, there is no sense of a reluctant compromise from the manager. Michael Carrick has made it clear he sees a role for the 23-year-old and is prepared to lean on him during a congested schedule.

“For sure Josh is important, for the team, for the squad the depth,” Carrick told BBC Sport. “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.”

Where Ugarte represents a contract United would have liked to escape, Zirkzee looks more like an asset still being shaped. One is a problem pushed into the future. The other is a project Carrick believes can still come good in the present.