“Not even worth a quarter of that”: Three-time Ballon d’Or winner slams United’s “bizarre” £50m signing

Dutch football legend Marco van Basten has renewed his criticism of Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte as he insisted the player is simply not good enough to play for the 20-time English champions.

Ugarte was officially unveiled by United on transfer deadline day, effectively sealing a switch from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth around £50million.

To say the Uruguayan has endured a slow start to life at Old Trafford would be a massive understatement.

He has been unable to solve United’s midfield woes, with the team still appearing extremely frail and vulnerable in the middle of the park.

Ugarte has so far made five appearances across all competitions and has started just three times.

The former PSG man was an unused substitute for the club’s last two matches against Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Earlier this month, Van Basten branded Ten Hag as “idiotic” for sanctioning the signing of Ugarte.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner has once again slammed the transfer as he pointed out that he is not worth the money United paid for him.

Van Basten said on Ziggo Sport (via Metro), “Now also that last one, Ugarte, who cost £50 million, you think, ‘how do you even think about paying so much money for that?’ That is really bizarre.”

Van Basten was then quizzed on whether it was fair for him to render such a verdict so early into Ugarte’s United career. He responded, “No, but I could already see in that match that he’s not even worth a quarter of that amount.”

“It’s true that the big clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Arsenal, they get the better ones and he [Ten Hag] always comes with second-rate players. That team has not got better.”

“He remains a good trainer but if you see the purchasing policy and those boys which were then bought for 700 million, I don’t see any return on that, they’re still poorly organised. There is no star walking around who organises it, who leads, none.”

He added, “A few years ago Marcus Rashford was a great player, he can’t do anything about this any more, it’s unbelievable. It’s strange for that a boy who was a world star years ago.”

Ugarte is currently with the Uruguay national team for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Ecuador.

He will be hoping for far better fortunes when United return to action on October 19 against Brentford.

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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