“Leave the football before the football leaves you.” That was the sentence Jamie Carragher reserved for a certain Manchester United player by the name of Casemiro back in May 2024.
It’s safe to say that the Brazilian, once a football legend, a serial winner at Real Madrid, had seen his powers wane.
He was making countless mistakes, looked like he was running through treacle and was the shadow of a player who had featured on 336 occasions for Madrid.
18 months on and Casemiro looks like a legandary player again. He may not be capable of featuring for a period of 90 minutes but the 2025/26 campaign has arguably been his best since moving to Old Trafford.
The 33-year-old is making a huge impact, notably scoring on three occasions and registering an assist. He’s finally come good in United colours.
However, the fact that he can’t last 90 minutes is the problem. His backup in the shape of Manuel Ugarte continues to struggle.
Why it's time for Ugarte to leave Man Utd
In the summer of 2024, INEOS spent a great deal on bringing the bullish Uruguayan to Old Trafford, as much as £42m.
He was seen as the heir to Casemiro, someone who could fix their lack of energy and tenacity in the middle of the park.
The big Brazilian was floundering and the more minute Ugarte was here to fix the problem. Yet, he has been more of a hindrance, particularly as Casemiro has returned to form.
So far this term, the midfield veteran has only completed one 90 minutes in the Premier League and in a bid to see out the game, Ruben Amorim has usually tried to rely on Ugarte. However, the South American has been anything but reliable.
Arsenal
65
Fulham
53
Burnley
72
Man City
Did not start
Chelsea
45
Brentford
Suspended
Sunderland
85
Liverpool
58
Brighton
70
Nott’m Forest
Was not subbed
Spurs
72
With the 24-year-old out of the team, the Red Devils have scored 15 goals at a rate of twice per 90 and have conceded eight times, once per 90 minutes.
However, with Ugarte in the team, Amorim’s side have scored just four times, 1.3 per 90 minutes and have shipped ten goals, a whopping 3.2 per 90.
The data is clear; United are a poorer side when the big-money midfielder is in the team. While he has come on and helped his teammates to victories over Chelsea, Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, he has also come on and been a hindrance.
When he entered the action at the weekend in the 2-2 draw with Spurs, it was 1-0 to United at the time. In the 3-1 defeat to Brentford, he came on at 2-1. During the 1-1 draw with Fulham, Amorim’s charges were leading 1-0 when Ugarte was brought off the bench. To make matters worse, he also started the 3-0 loss to rivals Manchester City.
So, why do things go so wrong when he’s on the field? Well, his inability to break up the play and anticipate what happens on the field is a huge issue. That was seen during the draw with Spurs on Saturday when Ugarte simply let Wilson Odobert breeze past him in the build-up to Mathys Tel’s equaliser.
With Kobbie Mainoo on the bench, it does beg the question, why Ugarte? While the Uruguay international is the more traditional holding midfielder, they need more energy and legs when Casemiro heads to the bench. Mainoo would bring that in abundance.
Saying that, the academy graduate isn’t the only Ugarte solution up Amorim’s sleeve. Another future superstar at Carrington is getting ready to make an impact.
Man United's surprise Ugarte replacement
Cutting their losses on the former PSG player would be disastrous from a business point of view but it really does feel as though United need a refresh in midfield.
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Casemiro has made great improvements this term but he is not getting any younger and if INEOS are planning to spend big in the future then it must be in a central area.
Players like Brighton superstar Carlos Baleba and Nottingham Forest’s Geordie midfielder, Elliot Anderson, have both been linked with a move. They would be fabulous signings too.
Yet, a ready-made solution could present itself at Carrington. In the form of 19-year-old Sekou Kone, United may well have already signed their dream replacement for Ugarte.
Kone arrived at Man United in the summer of 2024. He was not a marquee arrival, far from it. There was very little fanfare for a teenager who had signed in a £1m deal from Malian side Guidars FC.
An exciting midfield player, the youngster had attracted the attention of United scouts during Mali’s run to the semi-finals of the U17 World Cup in 2023. Since then, he has failed to earn any senior game time under Amorim but he looks like a mighty fine prospect.
Kone featured on 14 occasions for the U21s last season but his prospects of football in 2025/26 have so far been dampened by a fractured eye socket. He has played just one match in the opening exchanges of the ongoing campaign but he is now back in training and first-team training at that. Amorim has already shelved plans of a loan spell, such is the potential in this young midfield player.
So, what’s he all about? Well, a defensive midfielder by trade, he is “uber composed on the ball and so press resistant” in the words of Como scout, Ben Mattinson.
Mattinson continued: “He’s got a tight turn radius and rides challenges well when carrying the ball.” On that evidence, he certainly sounds more promising than Ugarte.
He possesses an exciting ball-winning prowess and has an enormous physical ceiling that Mattinson suggests “is something Manchester United need more of in order for Amorim’s man-to-man press to work effectively.”
On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise that fellow scout, Antonio Mango, has explained that Kone has “the skillset to be a beast under Amorim.”
This is a player who doesn’t just look capable of ending Ugarte’s career at Old Trafford, but potentially also Casemiro’s.