Ranking 10 Man Utd alternatives for Manuel Ugarte on likelihood of Old Trafford move

Manchester United have backed away from negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain over a move for Manuel Ugarte as the Ligue 1 side refuse to budge from their €60m valuation. Fair enough – the United we know and love would either have paid it or continued talks to the death before a panic move on deadline day for someone else.

If not Ugarte, then which other midfielder? We’ve combed through the archives, found ten players mentioned as ‘alternatives’ this summer and ranked them by the likelihood of a move to Old Trafford before the end of the transfer window.

10) Pedri
Hahahaha. No.

9) Frenkie de Jong
Reports have suggested United were planning to reunite the ‘best friends in football’, that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has an ‘additional incentive’ up his sleeve to lure De Jong, who remains Erik ten Hag’s ‘obsession’ and is set for a Barcelona ‘goodbye’. They’ve even tried to pawn Antony off on Barcelona in a bid to reduce the cost by what, a million or so?

And yet, in none of those reports (most of them spurious at best in any case) does it mention the sticking point in the Dutchman not moving to Old Trafford when they agreed a fee with Barcelona two years ago, or in any of the transfer windows since becoming unstuck: FRENKIE DE JONG DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR MANCHESTER UNITED.

8) Martin Zubimendi
A great player who would probably be very, very good alongside Kobbie Mainoo, but he’s got a €60m release clause and United weren’t willing to pay that for Ugarte.

7) Andre
Linked with Liverpool and Arsenal before Fulham had a £35m January bid rejected, and it was claimed at that time that a transfer from Fluminense in the summer was ‘expected’.

Having lost Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich reports Fulham’s interest remains but – no disrespect – we’re guessing Andre would prefer a move to United, and we’re also pretty sure Fluminense would hope to squeeze more than the £25m they’re currently said to be wanting for the 23-year-old out of the Red Devils.

6) Joey Veerman
“I saw him tripping over the ball, giving the ball away. I can’t explain it. Being good on the ball is supposed to be his quality.” United fans will hope Veerman’s terrible Euro 2024 displays and manager Ronald Koeman’s disparaging opinion of one in particular don’t offer harbingers for a United career which looks reasonably likely thanks to a comparatively meagre required fee (around £30m) and – obviously – his Dutch heritage.

5) Sander Berge
A perfectly decent footballer but he got relegated with Burnley and that should be enough to put the owners off a ‘surprise move’. If they’ve got any sense at all they will avoid a transfer which will result in their own fans being entirely underwhelmed and all rivals laughing in their faces. If Berge then doesn’t hit the ground running things could turn pretty sour pretty quickly.

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4) Adrien Rabiot
Rabiot is ‘ever closer’ to a Premier League but it was ever thus. Liverpool were supposedly keen but the Frenchman apparently rejected the Reds as his ‘clear target’ is to join United.

There would be no transfer fee, and for all his (and his mother’s) faults he’s clearly a fine footballer, but he wants a salary akin to United’s very highest earners, which is a problem with Ratcliffe aiming to reduce the wage bill.

3) Youssouf Fofana
He agreed terms with AC Milan at the start of the window, which has ‘irritated’ Monaco as the Serie A side have thus far made three bids and have only made it to roughly half their €35m valuation.

West Ham were prepared to reach the asking price but Fofana turned them down. United would probably be more tempting.

2) Joao Gomes
His name has popped up first on the back of the Ugarte news and it makes sense. Nicknamed ‘the Pitbull’, Gomes is said to have modeled his game on Casemiro’s, won’t cost a lot, has some Premier League experience, quality in and out of possession and room to develop.

1) Sofyan Amrabat
Not even his stellar showing in the FA Cup final could persuade United to shell out €25m to make Amrabat’s loan from Fiorentina permanent. He had been distinctly average up to that point and the thought of him lining up alongside Mainoo won’t fill United fans with great hope ahead of the 2024/2025 season, and there’s already plenty of reasons why their current optimism is misplaced.

But Fiorentina now want just €15m and we’re approaching a needs-must scenario for United with less than two weeks to go before their opening game against Fulham, in which old-man Casemiro is set to start unless they can get someone, anyone through the door.