Manchester United's Manuel Ugarte Dilemma: Injury and Contract Challenges

Manchester United are braced for a long and awkward stand-off with Manuel Ugarte, with the midfielder’s future now threatening to become a financial and sporting headache that drags on for years.

INEOS chief and co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already made up his mind. According to a report in The Athletic back in April, Ratcliffe watched Ugarte against Leeds United and decided the Uruguayan should be moved on. United were ready to listen to offers in the summer window and were prepared to cut their losses.

Ugarte cost more than £50 million when he arrived at Old Trafford in 2024. Two flat, underwhelming seasons later, the club accepted they would never see that money again. As ESPN report, United calculated that a bid of around £20 million would be needed just to help balance the books. Even that looked optimistic given his form and his wage packet.

The most realistic outcome? A loan, with another club covering his salary and giving both player and United a fresh start.

Then everything changed in one moment at the World Cup.

Playing for Uruguay at the 2026 finals this summer, Ugarte suffered a serious knee injury. Any hope of a sale or even a loan vanished instantly. Instead of a clean break, United are now tied to a long rehabilitation and an even longer contract.

There is at least one short-term silver lining. Under the FIFA Club Protection Programme, United will have Ugarte’s wages covered while he recovers from the injury sustained on international duty. On the balance sheet, that eases the immediate strain.

But it doesn’t solve the problem. It just delays it.

Ugarte is under contract until June 2029. Once he returns to fitness, United will be back in the same position next summer: trying to find a buyer or a loan partner for a player whose value has dipped and whose wages remain high. If the market still isn’t there, the issue could roll on for another three years.

For the new football leadership, that is exactly the kind of legacy contract they want to phase out. CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox are trying to reshape United’s squad and wage structure. Being locked into a long, expensive deal with a player the hierarchy already wanted to move on runs completely against that plan.

United’s Ugarte dilemma is not an isolated case, either. It’s a symbol of the club’s recent recruitment missteps: big fees, long contracts, and limited resale value. The knee injury has simply removed their one escape route for now.

While Ugarte’s situation stalls, another player who was on the potential exit list has a very different outlook.

Zirkzee stays – and Carrick backs him

Joshua Zirkzee was also made available in the summer as United looked to trim the squad and raise funds. Yet when the window shut, the Netherlands international was still at Old Trafford – and, crucially, still wanted.

Michael Carrick, speaking to BBC Sport, made it clear he sees a role for the forward.

“For sure Josh is important, for the team, for the squad the depth,” the United manager said. “Josh is happy here and I have a really good relationship with Josh. He wants to play more than he has but that is good healthy competition. We have a lot of games coming up, we have a shorter period between games. Josh can do some really top things, I have seen it myself.”

Zirkzee’s situation feels manageable, even promising: a player who wants minutes, a manager who believes in him, and a fixture list that will demand rotation.

Ugarte’s is the opposite: a long contract, a serious injury, a cooled market, and a hierarchy already looking for the exit. United can park the problem for a season thanks to FIFA’s protection scheme.

But when the bills return to Old Trafford and the midfielder is back on the training pitch, how long can they keep kicking this can down the road?