Revealed: Why Manchester United have not registered Manuel Ugarte for Liverpool clash

Manchester United have not registered Manuel Ugarte in time for him to play in the Premier League clash against Liverpool this weekend.

United and Paris Saint-Germain reached an agreement on an initial £42 million fee for the midfielder, with up to £8 million in possible add-ons.

With an announcement of the transfer soon, Ugarte is expected to join Erik ten Hag’s midfield and play alongside the highly talented Kobbie Mainoo.

In order to play in the next game against Liverpool, the club would have needed to register Ugarte to the Premier League before midday on Friday afternoon.

However, it has since been revealed by Ben Jacobs that the Reds had not registered Ugarte in time and he will be unavailable for the Liverpool game.

It was explained that United were “in no rush” to register the midfielder on time. They believe he is not yet prepared to start the game or come in as a meaningful substitute.

Ugarte has had a limited pre-season after playing at the Copa America in the summer. The 23-year-old has played no games for PSG and even trained away from the first team at times this summer.

Ten Hag has managed his new signings differently based on their pre-season preparation before joining the club.

For instance, Noussair Mazraoui had an extensive pre-season with Bayern Munich, which led to him being trusted to start the first two games of the season.

In contrast, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee missed most of their pre-season with their clubs due to their participation in Euro 2024 with the Netherlands.

As a result, both players have been used as substitutes in the opening league fixtures, coming off the bench in those games.

Ugarte’s debut will instead likely be against Southampton midway through September once the players return from international duty.

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