There will understandably be calls for patience amongst the Liverpool fanbase after Manchester United secured one exciting target in highly-rated defensive talent Leny Yoro.
The Merseysiders were thought to be keen on the Lille youngster, though, ultimately, the 18-year-old’s significant asking price proved too prohibitive for a player with limited senior appearances.
No harm done for now, given Arne Slot has been tasked with evaluating his current options in the backline, including wantaway centre-half Sepp van den Berg.
Meanwhile, however, the Red Devils may have incited further groans from Merseyside with their quick movement in agreeing personal terms with Manuel Ugarte, as reported on Fabrizio Romano’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
🚨🔴 Manchester United have agreed on personal terms with Manuel Ugarte.
Contract terms discussed, player keen on moving to United even without Champions League football.
Club-to-club talks continue with PSG, as more clubs also inquired.
Same agent as Leny Yoro: Jorge Mendes. pic.twitter.com/vyox9phNlQ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 18, 2024
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
The Anfield-based outfit is understood to be considering a number of positions, including holding midfield, centre-back and wide forward.
However, links (O Jogo) to the former Sporting star have been somewhat slim in recent months.
READ MORE: Man City ‘not even in conversation’ for Euros monster Liverpool are reportedly tracking
Should Liverpool have been looking at Manuel Ugarte?
![Ugarte, Romano](https://icdn.empireofthekop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/fbl-copa-america-2024-uru-col.jpg)
If all goes to plan, it seems Ugarte’s time in French football will be cut short after a year spent in Ligue 1 with league champions PSG.
From a raw stats perspective, we can understand why United would be so enamoured with the Uruguayan international. As things currently stand, he’s in the top bracket of midfielders for tackles and interceptions (99th and 96th percentile respectively) and is extremely reliable with the ball (95th percentile for pass completion), according to FBref.
Would this make him a good potential fit for Liverpool who are also looking for a No.6?
Probably not, given the player’s tendency to be a bit “all-action” and get around the pitch. Presuming Arne Slot sets us up with either a lone No.6 or a double pivot, we’d ideally want any new holding midfield addition to be a little more static when paired with someone like Dominik Szoboszlai or Alexis Mac Allister.
A roaming destroyer is simply not on the cards.
A lovely player boasting one hell of an engine and one that will, sadly, probably make United at least a little better. But not one suited to what Liverpool need right at this moment.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions
Me as the LFC supporter have grown a heavy heart on account of their failure to get a quality defender like Yoro.Come 24/25 season LFC will pay through their noses for their failure. I smell a rat that this was the reason why Klop left because LFC don’t back their coaches hoping for miracles to happen. KLop was tired of doing a job of a pastor with miracles instead of coaching.
Well said
Seconded
Not too fussed about it tbh. The price around £60m all in seems a bit steep for a player with less than 100 appearances in the French league. Combine that with him wanting guaranteed starts, when we already have VVD,Quansah, Konate,Gomez so on,then I believe we were right in moving on. People panic when they see lack of activity and teams around us getting things done but let’s have a little more faith in Edwards and Co,and not judge him until the end of the window. He’s not let us down so far and I believe that he’ll come good soon. PS they are also dealing with trying to tie TAA etc down so there’s that too.