Ruben Amorim’s first day as Manchester United head coach is on Monday, and the new man in the dugout has already shared his thoughts on one of United’s big-money stars
Ruben Amorim has given his backing to Manuel Ugarte as he gets ready for a reunion with the Manchester United midfielder.
Ugarte impressed under Amorim at Sporting Lisbon, earning a move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, but found things tougher in the French capital. United offered the Ururugayan international an escape route in August, but he has taken a bit of time to get up to speed after not having a proper pre-season.
Sunday’s victory over Leicester was a second straight Premier League start for Ugarte, something he didn’t manage under Erik ten Hag. He also got more than an hour against PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday, with interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy giving him minutes while United cope without the injured Kobbie Mainoo.
“All the Uruguayans I managed are incredible and that’s why I love them,” Amorim said ahead of his final Sporting match against Braga. “Ugarte is a very talented boy and has a lot of room to grow. I am very happy to know that I have him back at Man United.”
Ugarte is one of a number of Uruguay stars to thrive at Sporting, with Franco Israel a fixture in goal, Maxi Araujo scoring in the recent Champions League win against Manchester City and Sebastian Coates captaining them to the Primeira Liga title last term. And, while the midfielder is valued by Amorim, he made it clear the respect is mutual.
“I saw that Sporting fans were upset, and that’s understandable because the coach is a great coach,” Ugarte said after his United team drew with Chelsea at the start of the month. “It’s good for United. We have to take advantage of it and get him to convey his ideas as quickly as possible.
“I think it’s going to be a different dynamic, and the day-to-day will be similar to Sporting’s. The league, the country, the football… It’s a big challenge for him, but we all know he has the ability. It’s positive, mainly because the club needs to start building a path, which is important, and the coach will be key to that.”
Will Manuel Ugarte thrive under Ruben Amorim? Have your say in the comments section
United’s final game before the arrival of Amorim resulted in a comfortable victory over Leicester City. Bruno Fernandes scored his second goal in as many league games before a Viktor Kristiansen own goal made it 2-0 and Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to add a third.
“It was professional, you could see that players were fighting through the game,” Van Nistelrooy told BBC Sport after the 3-0 win. “We scored two great goals and there were some good bits but we didn’t have real control of the game.
“It was an important three points. In the four games Bruno scored some important goals, assisting too so he is back producing. That’s the Bruno that is helping the team the most.
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