Manuel Ugarte discusses following in the footsteps of two Manchester United icons

New Manchester United signing Manuel Ugarte has revealed how honoured he is to be following in the footsteps of Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan, by joining the club.

Ugarte, the fifth Urugyan to sign for the club across its nearly 150-year history, joined the Premier League outfit as Erik ten Hag’s final signing of the summer window.

Unable to be registered in time to make his debut against Liverpool over the weekend, United’s new number twenty-five, was instead unveiled ahead of the game.

Despite being unable to make his Red Devils debut yet, the defensive midfielder took the time to explain how special it was to be following in the footsteps of several legendary Uruguayan players by joining United:

“It feels great,” Ugarte told the club’s media. “Of course, Diego [Forlan] and Edi [Cavani] were both here and both of them were great players.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play alongside Cavani, and he’s a really top guy. So, yeah they were at a club with so much history, where I’m also going to be playing now and that makes me quite emotional.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ugarte admitted that he spoke with the recently departed from United Facundo Pellistri about joining the club:

“I spoke a lot with Facundo,” Ugarte stated. “And he told me all about everything, the atmosphere that’s generated, that matchday atmosphere that builds up at Old Trafford is incredible.

“So… yes, I’m really excited.”

Making a £42 million switch from PSG to United, Ugarte left the Ligue 1 side having played a part in winning three trophies including a league title during his one season with the club.

This summer, Ugarte was part of the 2024 Copa América Team of the Tournament, where he was the only Uruguayan international to make the team.

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