Paul Scholes not convinced by Manchester United target; pleads for Man City hero

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·23 August 2024

Paul Scholes not convinced by Manchester United target; pleads for Man City hero

Paul Scholes is not convinced by Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte, despite the likelihood of the Uruguay star signing for Manchester United before transfer deadline day.

Scholes has told The Overlap that he would like to see his former club sign Ilkay Gundogan instead of Ugarte.

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“Gundogan. I know it’s not going to happen but I think he’s the type of player Man United need,” Scholes said alongside Jamie Carragher. “A Zubimendi… or I’m going to say Gundogan. A controlling midfield player just to take the siting out of play. Gundogan is perfect for that.”

The German midfielder will return to Man City this summer, with Barcelona sending him back to the Premier League champions in a Bosman deal. He wants to return to City after dismissing interest from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

It comes as a bit of a surprise that Scholes thinks we should be adding a 33-year-old to our midfield, over seven years younger, at a time we are trying to get rid of players like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.

Ugarte has the energy we need and Gundogan wouldn’t come close in that battle. Not now at the end of his career.

Scholes also revealed he is not convinced by Ugarte, questioning his ability on the ball and comparing him to Sofyan Amrabat, who struggled during his loan spell at United last season.

“I have not seen too much of Ugarte, I saw him a couple of times last year,” he continued. “I’m not sure technically if he’s good enough. He seems to be a bit more of an Amrabat. Maybe a little bit better.

“We don’t need someone to go in and win tackles we need someone to come in and control a game of football so it is not up and down every two minutes.

“We need someone with a brain. A football brain just to relax everything down. Tell Bruno [Fernandes] to keep the ball for five minutes, please!”

Scholes not complimentary of other signings

The former United midfielder went on a harsh rant about De Ligt recently, proving he doesn’t bother to do his homework before speaking (at times…).

Scholes made it clear he is not a fan of De Ligt and labelled the Netherlands international a “second-rate defender”.

Prior to United announcing a deal to sign De Ligt, Scholes told the same podcast about his concerns, saying: “With Man United, we’re talking about players who can’t get into their team. He’s [De Ligt] not playing for them [Bayern]. That has to be a big concern, especially when Eric Dier is playing in front of him. That’s a massive concern for me.”

However, with a bit of homework, Scholes would have discovered that Dier was not starting ahead of De Ligt last season. More times than not they played alongside one another in the heart of Bayern’s defence.

Is this going to become a trend as Scholes’ tears into United’s new signings.

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Paul Scholes not convinced by Manchester United target; pleads for Man City hero | OneFootball

Paul Scholes not convinced by Manchester United target; pleads for Man City hero

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Scholes not complimentary of other signings

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