Luckhurst: ‘High possibility’ Man Utd complete shock U-turn and retain player Ratcliffe personally vowed to offload | OneFootball

There is reportedly a ‘high possibility’ that Manuel Ugarte stays at Manchester United beyond the summer window.

That’s according to Samuel Luckhurst, who claims that United ‘do not want to hawk Ugarte around’ and have conceded he ‘is a hard sell’.

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Manuel Ugarte: The state of play

The midfielder is tied to Old Trafford until at least June 2029, with his contract then containing a 12-month option.

United shelled out £42 million for Ugarte when bringing him in from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2024, pledging a further £8.7m in add-ons.

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To say he has failed to impress since making the move, however, is an understatement, and it’s not as if he hasn’t been given the chances.

Throughout his maiden campaign in M16, Ugarte was granted 22 Premier League starts and a further seven appearances off the bench. He was an unused substitute only three times.

Following the culmination of 2025/2026 on Sunday, the Uruguayan had just eight league starts to his name across the entirety of the season. Ugarte featured as a substitute in 14 matches, but was left on the sidelines for a whopping 15 fixtures.

How has Ugarte fared under Michael Carrick?

To make matters worse for him, it was pretty clear from the get-go of Michael Carrick’s reign that he wasn’t a fan.

The 25-year-old was called upon sparingly when the Englishman first took the reins, until he was given the nod for the first time in the 12th game of Carrick’s tenure – but only because Kobbie Mainoo had been ruled out through injury.

Ugarte played the full 90 minutes of the Reds’ shock defeat to rivals Leeds United at home, overseeing a calamitous display in the middle of the park. He did not play again, not even for a single minute, in the remaining six matches of the term.

Ugarte’s record since Carrick took charge in January (Transfermarkt)

It was later reported by the reputable Laurie Whitwell that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had personally green-lit Ugarte’s sale when visiting Carrington in the subsequent days.

That being said, United can only work with what’s on offer to them, and if no suitors come in looking to take the out-of-favour player off their hands, they’ll have no choice but to keep him in the ranks.

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