It is public knowledge that Manuel Ugarte is calling interest from top clubs and top leagues.
However, the English clubs were the ones who showed more concrete interest in signing the Uruguayan, especially Jurgen Klopps Liverpool and, more recently, Tottenham Hotspur.
In this tactical analysis, we will detail Manuel Ugartes position at Sporting CP and his main attributes.
Well also explore some of Sportings potential replacements in case of Ugartes departure.
Who Is Manuel Ugarte?
Firstly, lets start with Manuel Ugartes scouting profile.
He is a 22-year-old Uruguayan defensive midfielder born in 2002 and formed in CA Fenix where he made his professional debut.
At just 19 years old, the Uruguayan moved to Portugal after a clever FC Famalicão transfer.
Although Manuel played just a few games (21) for Famalicão, he demonstrated his value and produced some outstanding performances and Sporting CP signed him in 2021 for 6.5 million euros.
After João Palhinha was sold to Fulham last summer, Manuel grabbed the opportunity and established himself in the first team, especially this season.
He is the fourth player with the most minutes in the league.
Is Manuel Ugarte A complete player?
Generally, as a player, we think that Manuel Ugartes style of play stands out for his general attributes, where he can develop both his technical ability and tactical knowledge.
He has unique characteristics for a player in that position.
In other words, it is very difficult to find a defensive midfielder who is well-developed technically, makes good decisions in the build-up, and is also very aggressive without the ball.
Ugarte, for instance, can use both feet during his actions, has good technical movements to keep the ball in tight spaces, and has a decent pass rate (91.7 percent in the league), helping the team circulate the ball quickly in possession.
In possession, Ugarte helps the team on the build-up by being well positioned and having excellent vision. This allows him, through long balls, to find an open teammate on the flank or even break the oppositions lines, as we can see in the images below.
Despite his great vision, Ugarte still misses some passes, maybe because of his decision-making timing, which gives the defenders time to correct their positioning.
In the following images, we can see that Ugarte views the dept
