Sometimes they come back. A year ago these days Manuel Ugarte, a Uruguayan born in 2001 with a 60 million release clause, faced Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, earning the penalty for a 1-1 draw, which however was not enough for his Sporting to go into semi-final after the 1-0 defeat at the Allianz Stadium. Now the midfielder who grew up with the myth of Busquets and De Bruyne wears the PSG shirt, but things have become complicated for him in the last period with Luis Enrique. So his name started to circulate again in transfer calls and was back in fashion even for the Bianconeri, who had already put him in their notebook before his move to Paris.
Reinforcements and revolution
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Ugarte could become the classic opportunity that the Lady would be happy to take advantage of to revolutionize the midfield. Next season there will certainly be one more man, Nicolò Fagioli, who will finish serving his betting ban in less than a month, but there could be at least a couple less. The future of Adrien Rabiot, whose contract expires in June, is a puzzle and one cannot even bet on the permanence of Weston McKennie, linked to Juventus until 2025 but with the renewal negotiation at a standstill: without an extension (there is no agreement on the figures) it is likely that the summer farewell of the American will come. Therefore Madama continues to look around without stopping at the well-known names (Koopmeiners the favourite, but Zubimendi, Merino and Samardzic are also in the running). The plans include a return to a four-man defense with a midfielder that could become a two-man defense, also to allow Manuel Locatelli, who is struggling in the role of director, to be able to express himself better with a teammate next to him who takes away the dirty work from him. Ugarte is the right man, skilled in dribbling and passing, a lover of one-on-one play, physically strong (182 centimetres) but also good at reading game situations. His specialty is recovering balls, something that the current Juventus has lacked a lot. In 2022-23 the Uruguayan was the best in La Liga for duels won, tackles made and successful.
On the margins
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Luis Enrique was initially bewitched by the Montevideo mastiff, but then, with the explosion of Zaire-Emery, Ugarte had to get used to the bench. So far this season 19 appearances (of which 13 in Ligue 1) and zero goals. In short, Ugarte is not out of the project but he is struggling to find space, for this reason the club is looking around to find him a place for next season. Considering that he was paid 60 million a summer ago, it is hard to imagine that PSG could get back such a significant sum. So the loan hypothesis could make its way, to give Ugarte the chance to play and put himself on display. The Parisian club has already made contact with several clubs in Italy, including Juventus. The relations between Cristiano Giuntoli and Luis Campos, said Frenchmen, are excellent (see the Osimhen affair when the current technical director of Juventus was still at Napoli and Campos worked for Lille) and could favor the operation, provided that the player is content with a salary within the reach of the Bianconeri, who need to contain their wages.
The favourite
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It is likely that PSG and Juventus will talk about it again once the Champions League has been acquired, when Giuntoli will have more defined ideas on the money that will come in next season and also on the commitments that Juventus will have to bear. Ugarte is young, but has already gained some experience in the international field and due to his characteristics he can be useful to the Bianconeri. Meanwhile, the Lady is also following other leads, in particular the one that leads to the Dutchman Teun Koopmeiners, Juventus’ next opponent in the Italian Cup final. Koop is Giuntoli’s favourite, but he costs a lot (Atalanta values him at around 60 million) and the competition from English clubs is very strong. It doesn’t mean that one excludes the other, because Ugarte on loan could become an opportunity and in midfield Madama could need more reinforcements for next season.
