Rio singles out INEOS signing he’s ‘honestly disappointed’ with – no wonder they’re considering a sale after 18 months | OneFootball

Rio Ferdinand has singled out Manuel Ugarte as one player he has yet to see the best of in a Manchester United shirt.

The midfielder has been granted ample opportunities to showcase why United bought him, too, but is still failing to hit the level required.

Back in August 2024, the Red Devils agreed a whopping £50.5 million deal to sign Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain after he’d spent only a year at the Parc des Princes.

Jury still out on Ugarte after a season-and-a-half

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

He couldn’t work his way into Luis Enrique’s plans and, eventually, PSG were happy to facilitate his exit and welcome young starlet Joao Neves with the funds they raised.

Since then, Ugarte has been vying to cement a starting role at Old Trafford – and is still navigating that challenge to this day.

This season, in particular, he has struggled for minutes. Prior to United’s clash with Aston Villa on December 21, for which both Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo were unavailable, the 24-year-old had started only twice and been an unused substitute on six occasions.

Absences in the squad subsequently paved the way for Ugarte to feature more, and he has now started five successive league matches.

That could all be about to change when Michael Carrick takes the reins for the first time this weekend, as it’s currently unknown what defensive midfield pairing he’ll go for.

Ferdinand gives his verdict on lacklustre Ugarte

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Weighing in on the Uruguayan’s situation on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand said this week: “I’ve got to be honest, I have been disappointed with Ugarte. He is one player who, when he came in, everybody said he’s got legs, he can tackle, he can move. The description I was getting was that he was the right type of player we needed.

“It just hasn’t materialised, it hasn’t come to the fore. I haven’t seen the player that everybody was talking about before in terms of being able to get up against people quickly and tackle.

“That’s meant to be a big part of his game, being aggressive. He hasn’t put a marker down in a game that’s made me think, ‘This guy could be one of our midfield dogs or controllers who is really going to get things going in the midfield.’ He hasn’t got anywhere near that.”

In the build-up to the winter window, speculation suggested that INEOS were willing to cut short Ugarte’s tenure after only 17 months.

He had reportedly garnered two concrete suitors in the form of Ajax and Galatasaray, although nothing has materialised as of yet.

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