Two Manuel Ugarte moments could turn the tide after harrowing Manchester United start

Price tags and reputations count for little when it comes to adjusting to life in the Premier League, and Manuel Ugarte is no exception.

Manchester United had to bide their time before signing Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day in the summer transfer window. Ineos were keen to shake off United's reputation of overpaying in the market, and were confident that they had got the right deal - an initial £42million - for the Uruguay international after he fell from grace during his one season in Ligue 1.

Unfortunately for Ugarte and Erik ten Hag, the protracted negotiations meant the midfielder had little time to bed in with the squad before the new season kicked off. Ugarte has looked a little lost during the early days of his Old Trafford career, and cut a desolate figure in a wretched 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham at the end of September. Ugarte has found minutes hard to come by as he gets up to speed with English football, and Manchester Evening News readers were suitably unimpressed.

READ MORE: Ten Hag reveals shock position change for United player

READ MORE: United have a player who is becoming impossible to ignore

Thousands of MEN readers responded to our poll during the October international break surveying United's start to the 2024/25 campaign, with a range of questions from first-team performance to Ineos' Old Trafford plans and transfer strategy. When asked who has been United's best summer signing so far, over 14,000 readers responded - Noussair Mazraoui was the clear winner with 69 per cent of the vote, while just 5 per cent opted for Ugarte. Another 5 per cent backed Joshua Zirkzee, 9 per cent were for Matthijs de Ligt, while 12 per cent marked out Leny Yoro despite the centre-back being out injured since pre-season.

Those numbers showed Ugarte was due a big performance, and Ten Hag afforded the Uruguayan a rare start in United's Europa League trip to Fenerbahce on October 24. Eyebrows were raised at the prospect of Mazraoui - predominantly a wing-back - operating as a makeshift No.10 in Istanbul on Thursday night, with Christian Eriksen and Ugarte deployed behind the Moroccan.

However, two first-half moments showed United fans a glimpse of what Ugarte can offer, and could well be the turning point after his slow start at United. 14 minutes into a fiery contest at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Ugarte neatly dispossed former United midfield Fred deep in midfield, and traded a neat one-two with Eriksen before rolling a calm ball to Zirkzee to start a counter-attack. Eriksen finished the move with a fine strike and will rightly get the plaudits, but as TNT Sports co-commentator Robbie Savage said of Ugarte: "That's what he's in the side for, to win the ball in that six position... [Ugarte] wins the ball, does it very, very well."

Celebrating a defensive midfielder making a sensible tackle and pass to turn defence into attack sounds a little foolish - unless you're a Manchester United fan. Casemiro's struggles add to the years of midfield malaise at Old Trafford, but if Ugarte can continue to do the simple things well, then he could transform a team that has looked alarmingly flaky in midfield.

Better was to come from Ugarte as he then went on to prevent a certain Fenerbahce equaliser: with United caught out on the right of defence, Dusan Tadic looked certain to turn home a loose ball after Andre Onana spilt a low cut-back. However, Ugarte had read the danger, making a perfectly timed sliding block to stop Tadic knocking the ball into an empty net.

United celebrated Ugarte's block as if he had just scored at the other end, and that is what United need more of: defenders who love to defend. Time will tell whether Ugarte can make a starting role his own at United, but two moments in Istanbul showed exactly what United saw in him this summer.