3/14 duels won, 13x possession lost: £42m United star struggles on Int'l duty, Red Devils want to sell him

Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte had a difficult outing during Uruguay’s 1-1 friendly draw against England in an international friendly on Friday.

The 24-year-old has been a fringe player for the Red Devils this campaign. He has played second fiddle to Casemiro for the number six position under interim manager Michael Carrick.

United are open to parting ways with their £42 million signing at the end of the season, and yesterday’s showing against the Three Lions shows exactly why.

The former Paris Saint-Germain ace played 87 minutes at Wembley Stadium. He had a decent passing accuracy of 82 percent but was dismal with other statistics.

Ugarte won just three out of 14 duels contested (79 percent lost). The midfielder also lost possession on 13 occasions and was dribbled past four separate times.

The midfielder was part of a controversy after the telecast showed that he was not sent off after receiving two yellow cards in the 70th and 81st minutes, respectively.

However, it later emerged that the first yellow card was in fact shown to Uruguay captain Jose Gimenez, and the coverage had mistakenly displayed Ugarte’s name.

Ugarte has looked like a shadow of the player from his PSG days. His confidence has obviously taken a hit with his lack of first-team football with the Red Devils this term.

United are poised to sign a marquee defensive midfielder to replace Casemiro this summer, but they could also pursue another midfield recruit if Ugarte makes way.

Uruguay have another international friendly against Algeria at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see whether Ugarte starts after yesterday’s poor outing.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com

Article written by Sri Aswin .