Manuel Ugarte’s Man Utd career is on the brink with a pivotal summer coming, but one signing can revive it straight back.
When looking at ideal midfield targets for Man Utd, it’s unlikely that Ineos will put too much thought into who suits Manuel Ugarte the best.
However, if they want to avoid a complete overhaul and keep Ugarte, then there’s one signing they can make to revive his career perfectly.
Fortunately, he’s already on Man Utd’s radar and looks attainable, ticking Ineos’ boxes as well.
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Manuel Ugarte is Adam Wharton’s ideal partner
From Elliot Anderson to Sandro Tonali and Carlos Baleba to Bruno Guimaraes, United have been linked to many midfielders.
Adam Wharton has been linked too, but they have largely been surface-level, mainly because it’s hard to envision a midfield of Wharton with Kobbie Mainoo.
Both like having the ball, so their skills off it remain under doubt, and it’s easy to see that midfield getting overrun easily.
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While that is certainly an argument, Wharton is actually Ugarte’s ideal midfield partner in a way not even Mainoo is.
That is because Wharton is essentially Mainoo, but with passing skills dialled up to ten. He breaks lines with his passes, be it short or long, and doesn’t dither on the ball.
It’s the skill set that makes him Bruno Fernandes’ ideal midfielder as well, and the same skills make him Ugarte’s ideal partner.
With Wharton by his side, Ugarte can simply clean up the attacks, eat up the ground, recover the ball, and play the simple five-yard pass sideways to Wharton, who takes care of the rest.
With four competitions next season, United can do a lot worse than revive Ugarte’s skill set by buying his ideal midfielder partner, especially if the Uruguayan can’t be sold for a lot.
Wharton can work with Kobbie Mainoo as well
The best thing about Wharton is that he’s not necessarily a competitor for Mainoo, because people are simplifying their profiles too much.
United are concerned Adam Wharton is too similar to Kobbie Mainoo – is this a good reason to back away from a deal?
Or are two Kobbie Mainoo types actually smart to have…?
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The best teams don’t need to have a pure destroyer in the midfield who’s limited on the ball because they simply dominate the ball to that extent.
As long as the midfielder has positional intelligence and works hard, which Mainoo and Wharton do, then the trade-off of brawn for brain is worth it.
Frenkie de Jong bosses the midfield with Pedri for Barcelona, while Rodri and Bernardo Silva hold the fort just fine for Man City.
That’s because these teams camp in the opponent’s box and dominate possession, so two midfielders with progressive passing instead of one is not just workable, but a necessity.
Wharton works well with Mainoo and is Ugarte’s dream partner. United wouldn’t be wise to write him off so easily based on just some surface-level off-the-ball concerns.
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