Manchester United are moving uncharacteristically quickly in this year’s transfer market as they have now reportedly “agreed personal terms” with their next signing of the summer.
With co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. at the helm, it looks as though Man United’s recruitment strategy is going to be much more swift and clinical, with the club already announcing the signing of Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee last week and French defender Leny Yoro on Thursday.
Now, though, it seems the new board of executives overseeing operations – Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth – may have already secured the third player of the INEOS era, as the latest reports claim that Uruguayan international Manuel Ugarte has now agreed to join the club.
According to multiple transfer sources such as Fabrizio Romano and Florian Plettenberg, Ugarte has already agreed on personal terms and is keen on a move to Old Trafford and a suitable offer between United and Paris Saint-Germain simply needs to be ironed out.
🚨🔴 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.
The 23-year-old defensive midfielder came through the Fénix youth setup back in his home country before sealing a move to the Portuguese league and ultimately impressing enough at Sporting Lisbon (where they have found transfer joy in the past) to land a deal at PSG.
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Ugarte has been on the radar of United and the likes of Chelsea over recent seasons but the fact that his agent is Jorge Mendes, the same man who represents new acquisition Yoro, could work in the Red Devils’ favour.
While talks between the Premier League club and the player himself look to have been successful, specific details of the offer are yet to be revealed and negotiations with his current employers are still ongoing. It is thought that the Ligue 1 giants could demand as much as €70 million (£59m).
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That being said, the French champions are said to be pursuing the services of Benfica’s João Neves to rejig their squad in the middle of the park, so it could be quite a simple case of one in, one out. The statisticians are already sharing a few nuggets to get Reds excited too:
98 – Manuel Ugarte made 98 tackles in just 25 Ligue 1 games in the 2023-24 season, the most of any player; it is more tackles than any Manchester United midfielder has made in any of the last 18 seasons. Solution. pic.twitter.com/fJLuI5j8k4
Meanwhile, there could be plenty more movement in Man United’s ranks also, as not only is it yet to be decided whether Sofyan Amrabat’s loan deal will be made permanent, but European veteran Casemiro’s future is also still up in the air.
There has also been interest in Scott McTominay from clubs such as Fulham, West Ham United and Spurs, and United may have to make room in their midfield to even welcome another new addition in order to keep in line with FFP and PSR.
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Elsewhere, the departure of some fringe players and now most notably Mason Greenwood, has freed up some space in the squad and although it remains unclear how much of a budget manager Erik ten Hag has to work with, it looks as though this could be the next step in the rebuild.
If United manage to wrap up a deal for Ugarte on top of the two players they’ve already signed this summer, would you be happy, Reds – or do you think they need to bring in a few more?
Benjamin Mendy wins legal case against Manchester City over unpaid wages
Danny Jones
Ex-Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy has officially won the legal case against his former employers over unpaid wages.
The French defender was suspended from Man City without pay in September 2021 after being charged with six counts of rape and one instance of sexual assault before ultimately leaving the club last June.
Despite multiple allegations and the high-profile case going to trial in August 2022, Mendy was eventually cleared of all counts in July 2023 and has been demanding he receive his ‘lost’ finances earned at the Etihad ever since.
Mendy took legal action against City last November and now, nearly a full year on, the 30-year-old fullback has won his claim against them and is expected to receive most of the outstanding wages accumulated while he was in custody and on bail, as he was still unable to play due to FA sanctions.
As detailed in an official judgement summary, “The result of this decision is that Mr Mendy will be entitled to receive the majority of his unpaid salary, although not all of it.”
BREAKING: Benjamin Mendy has been successful in his employment claim against Manchester City 🚨
In her judgement, published on November 6, Judge Joanne Dunlop's concluded that Manchester City were not entitled to withhold Mendy's pay while he was not in custody. pic.twitter.com/dRWmfHpfgO
The former Premier League star initially entered into an employment tribunal to claim around £11 million in compensation for the wages he missed out on during the period between his suspension in September 2021 and City letting him go in the summer of 2023.
Mendy’s wages were worth around £500,000 a month after joining the Manchester club back in 2017 for a then-world-record fee for a defender, £52m. While he was unsuccessful in claiming all unpaid wages back, City are expected to hand over approximately £8.5m.
Writing on social media, the Frenchman welcomed the decision which found that the club had “unlawfully made deductions from my wages for a total period of 16 months and 23 days.”
Mendy urged the club to do the “honourable thing” and pay the outstanding wages promptly, along with other amounts included in his contract, so as to “finally put this difficult part of my life behind me.”
He went on to conclude the statement by thanking family, agent and legal team for their support and while it’s unclear how soon Man City will be forced to cough up the sum, the footballer will be playing this weekend as usual. You can read his full statement down below:
The club themselves are yet to respond to the decision but will be required to pay out the number within a certain period by law. Mendy has been back playing football in his home country at Ligue 2 club, FC Lorient, who he signed for just days after being acquitted even despite huge backlash.
Meanwhile, their well-publicised case against UEFA and the outstanding 115+ charges regarding FFP and PSR has now begun but isn’t expected to be settled for some time.
Featured Images — Soccer.ru (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
Sport
A pro-am tournament is coming to Manchester’s newest padel club – and there are some big sporting celebs taking part
Danny Jones
The padel craze is slowly taking over the country and Europe at large and with Manchester now home to multiple clubs, we’re now preparing to host our first-ever pro-am tournament too.
Unveiled just last month, the new Pure Padel location over in Cheetham Hill is just the second site opened by the growing sporting brand which started out at nearby Alderley Park in Macclesfield and is now set to take the city centre by storm.
Debuting as the sport’s only indoor facility in Manchester, it’s already set itself apart from the equally popular competition and is about to create an even bigger buzz by welcoming the official Pro Am Padel Tour to the region for the very first time – plus some familiar faces.
With the likes of sports personalities such as John Terry, Danni Wyatt, Theo Walcott; Bobby Zamora, Jos Buttler, Mark Noble and Carly Telford, as well as celebrities Jeff Brazier, Spencer Matthews, Kem Cetonay and many more having played in the past, the word is getting out about the competition.
Pro-am tournaments take place all over the world in other spheres such as golf, snooker and tennis, pitting professionals from within the discipline against amateurs – and, in this case, both current and former athletes from different sports – against each other in a series of exhibition matches.
Think celebrity boxing match or a charity football game, only you can actually pick up a trophy at the end of this one.
Put simply, the Pro Am Padel Tour pairs Britain’s top padel professionals with high-profile guests from the worlds of sport and entertainment for a thrilling, round-robin tournament.
Having launched back in April 2023, the competition is still in its infancy but has already seen some big names and their upcoming Manchester event is expecting even more.
Confirmed celebrities this time around include Olympic swimmer Matt Richards, retired Lioness and Manchester City legend Jill Scott; former England footballer and pundit Joleon Lescott, as well as Man United alumni Phil Jones and Katie Zelem.
More sports personalities and celebrity guests are expected to be confirmed soon but even now, there are plenty of names we’d like to see with a racquet in their hands and see just how good they are at the fast-paced court sport.
Scheduled to start at 11am on Wednesday, 20 November, the 2024 Pro Am Tour Manchester edition will be an all-day event and while it is an exclusive event, you can keep an eye on their socials for content from the matches.