Ruben Amorim left members of his Manchester United squad stunned after he ripped into Manuel Ugarte following last season’s Europa League final defeat against Tottenham.
An insipid, toothless display in Bilbao yielded a 1-0 loss and ensured a miserable season culminated in a lack of silverware and European qualification.
Uruguay international Ugarte joined United from Paris Saint-Germain in January and, although new to the Premier League, was expected to make an instant impact given he had worked with Amorim at Sporting Lisbon.
The Uruguay international has struggled to adapt to the demands of Premier League football, however, and was given a serious dressing down in front of his teammates by Amorim following the Europa League final defeat against Tottenham.
In the same meeting during which Alejandro Garnacho was left in no doubt that his future lay elsewhere, Ugarte, according to The Athletic, was told he had become far too comfortable in his new surroundings and his lax attitude rendered him unrecongisable from the player his manager had coached in Portugal.
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Despite that chastening experience, Ugarte still appears some way short of winning Amorim’s full confidence.
The combative midfielder has made just nine appearances, most of those as substitute, and his long-term future looks anything but assured.
United’s most recent signings have all made positive impacts and the next stage of a seismic rebuild is likely to centre on strengthening in midfield.
The Red Devils maintain interest in Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson as well as his England teammate Adam Wharton, who former United striker Louis Saha fears would represent a huge transfer risk.
‘It’s a possibility (that Man Utd could sign Adam Wharton for £100 million next summer).’ former United striker Saha told OLBG .
‘I think Adam Wharton is a young lad. I do think that sometimes you have to be careful with those big signings.
‘I consider this new market to be extremely dangerous for clubs because you can see the hype that goes up and then you’re left surprised.
‘It took a bit of time for Moises Caicedo to settle at Chelsea as well so there are big signings and sometimes the expectations are too high.
‘You have to really read under the lines and that’s not easy. That’s really not an easy market.
‘People can throw big numbers. The agents are very pleased with that. I am not a big fan of this.’