‘Looks quite bleak’: Utd man who was ‘picked out for criticism’ by Amorim is now on thin ice at Old TraffordStretty NewsThu, December 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM UTC·2 min readManuel Ugarte has been tipped to leave Manchester United just 16 months into his five-year deal.
INEOS have proven they can and will be ruthless when it comes to facilitating the exits of players they don’t believe are good enough – even if only on loan to get them out of the squad, as was the case with Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNow, Ugarte is one Red who’s facing a hugely uncertain future after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim.
Manuel Ugarte: The state of play
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
When the head coach took the reins last November, it was anticipated Ugarte would play an integral role in the new setup, based on the fact that he’d already worked with Amorim for two seasons at Sporting Lisbon prior to his Paris Saint-Germain move.
He did go on to feature prominently throughout what was left of 2024/2025, making 34 appearances in total across all competitions, including 28 starts.
However, the Uruguayan has been facing an uphill battle to reclaim his place since 2025/2026 got underway; he has started only twice in the opening 13 Premier League matches and been an unused substitute on four occasions.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUgarte has totalled a measly 301 top-flight minutes thus far, and there’s nothing to signify he’ll be given the nod when United welcome West Ham to Old Trafford for an evening kick-off tonight.
What one journalist is hearing about Ugarte
(Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“In the case of both Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee, I think he would prefer to keep them around, at least until the end of the season,” said talkSPORT’s Alex Crook when weighing in on United’s potential winter business, as relayed by UtdJoshua03.
“Ugarte is an interesting case because he was one of the players picked out for criticism by Ruben Amorim last season. I think Ugarte will go be it January or the summer, I think his United career looks quite bleak.”
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