Dutch legend Marco van Basten claims new Man Utd signing Manuel Ugarte is “not even worth a quarter” of the transfer fee they paid.
The Red Devils signed the Uruguay international from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window for a fee which could rise to around £5om.
Man Utd signed five players in total over the summer with Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joining Ugarte in moving to Old Trafford.
Yoro was injured in pre-season, Mazraoui has been fairly solid, while Zirkzee and De Ligt have both come in for plenty of stick in their first few months as Man Utd players.
It is hard to form an opinion on Ugarte just yet with the 23-year-old playing just 103 minutes in the Premier League over three appearances this term.
But former Netherlands international Van Basten has seen enough to call the Red Devils’ decision to sign Ugarte a “really bizarre” one, especially for the price they paid.
Van Basten said on Ziggo Sport’s ‘Rondo’ show: “Now also that last one, Ugarte, who cost £50 million, you think, ‘how do you even think about paying so much money for that?’ That is really bizarre.”
When it was suggested that Van Basten may not know Ugarte as well as he thinks after watching him twice, the AC Milan legend replied: “No, but I could already see in that match that he’s not even worth a quarter of that amount.”
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Man Utd player singled out as ‘rotten apple’ after Jose Mourinho exposed four stars
👉 Man Utd warned over appointing ‘far better manager’ than Erik ten Hag
👉 Arsenal dark arts clear with international duty withdrawals but Manchester United lead way in October
Van Basten added: “It’s true that the big clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Arsenal, they get the better ones and he [Erik ten Hag] always comes with second-rate players. That team has not got better.
“He remains a good trainer but if you see the purchasing policy and those boys which were then bought for 700 million, I don’t see any return on that, they’re still poorly organised.
“There is no star walking around who organises it, who leads, none.
“A few years ago Marcus Rashford was a great player, he can’t do anything about this any more, it’s unbelievable. It’s strange for that a boy who was a world star years ago.”
One player who seems to have improved at Man Utd this season is Andre Onana with Peter Schmeichel crediting new goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar for the uptick in the Cameroonian’s form.
Schmeichel the Seaman Says podcast: “I think Onana looks more comfortable in the Manchester United goal now.
“One of the things that has happened is they’ve changed the goalkeeping coach so it’s somebody he knows and they’re probably working more on his strengths and his way in the game.”
