Erik ten Hag had a £70m problem three months ago, but he may have just solved it for Manchester United.
Manchester United’s pursuit of Manuel Ugarte continues with just nine days left in the transfer window this summer.
The pursuit has been on now for the best part of two months, with the most recent reports suggesting United are targeting a loan with a buy obligation for Ugarte.
It is the last position of four priorities which were outlined by Fabrizio Romano before the summer as needing to be added to by Ineos.
If Ugarte is to arrive, he could be the perfect addition alongside Kobbie Mainoo, and could also help complete the renaissance of £60m man Casemiro.
Ugarte could help Manchester United extract value from Casemiro
Heading into this summer, the future of Casemiro was balanced on a knife-edge with his importance diminished after a season of struggles on the pitch.
Casemiro was left vulnerable as his legs were not carrying him as quickly across the pitch as they once might have.
This made playing him in defensive midfield a true recipe for disaster with almost every single opponent able to bypass him on the counterattack.
So with this in mind, signing a ball-winner like Ugarte who can also cover plenty of ground might be a really smart move in order to get some more out of the £60m investment United made in Casemiro just 24 months ago.
If the pair were played together they could bring the best out of each other, and Erik ten Hag deserves plenty of credit for finding Casemiro a new role which has undoubtedly prolonged his career at Old Trafford.
This has seen Casemiro impress in the two competitive games so far this season – including against Manchester City.
Erik ten Hag has found a system for Casemiro
While signing Ugarte would benefit Casemiro, Ten Hag also deserves a heap of plaudits for reinventing his team and finding a place for Casemiro.
We saw Casemiro at his all-action best during the Premier League opener against Fulham when he ranked as the best in the team in some key areas.
- 3 chances created
- 12 challenges won
- 5 clearances
- 4 possessions in the opponent’s penalty area
This kind of performance would have been unheard of from Casemiro last season, but this season the team is far more organised which plays into the hands of the Brazilian.
United playing a higher line has allowed Casemiro to be further up the pitch, without having 20 metres of space between him and the defence – a gap any player would have struggled to cope with.
Therefore there is less demand on him physically and we saw he was able to be quite effective in attack, with one chance created for Bruno Fernandes which deserved an assist.
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