Manchester United drop interest in PSG star; seeking alternatives elsewhere

There has been a lot of change at Manchester United this summer and it’s now been reported that Manchester United are set to walk away from a transfer rather than spend the summer chasing targets around with their trousers down.

This, of course, is a positive change that shows United will not be bullied in the transfer market because they’re unwilling to pay over the odds for new players. It sets a good precedent that we won’t be held ransom.

United are only willing to pay what they deem to be the correct fee for each transfer target and negotiations will not be allowed to drag on until the end of the market, which is something we experienced two years ago when Erik ten Hag had Richard Arnold chasing Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong for over 100 days.

According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, United are switching the focus of their search to sign a new midfielder away from Paris Saint Germain’s Manuel Ugarte and on to other candidates.

Ornstein reports: “United have been exploring a deal for Ugarte but they do not intend to meet Paris Saint-Germain’s asking price, which is around €60 million (£51.4m) fee they paid to sign him from Sporting Lisbon in 2023.”

PSG want their money back, but after being dropped from Luis Enrique’s side, Ugarte’s valuation has arguably decreased. That may be the argument put forward by United when they requested the Ligue 1 champions to lower their demands for the Uruguayan defensive midfielder.

Urgate was seen as a potential replacement for Casemiro, who looks set to remain at United due to a lack of interest in the transfer market. That doesn’t change the fact we need a better defensive midfielder because the Brazilian’s standards dropped significantly in the past 12 months.

However, United are looking elsewhere – unless the French giants change their stance.

It is understood that the United and PSG are quite far apart in their respective valuations of Ugarte. No progress has been made on that front yet.

Let us know in the comments section who you would like to see United sign to improve Ten Hag’s midfield ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

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