Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be ready to offer up one of their own stars in a fresh attempt to sign Manuel Ugarte this summer, it has emerged.
Man Utd off to winning start
A late winner from debutant Joshua Zirkzee handed Manchester United a hard-fought three points to kick off their 2024-25 Premier League campaign under Erik ten Hag.
Facing Fulham at Old Trafford, United missed a series of good opportunities before Zirkzee emerged from the substitutes bench to announce himself by scoring the only goal of the game in the closing stages.
Better than Berge: Man Utd could sign Casemiro upgrade who's like Pogba
He has impressed at his current club.
ByJoe Nuttall
It was a game in which new signings made a strong impression, with Noussair Mazraoui also enjoying an excellent first game in Manchester United red, while ex-Ajax, Bayern Munich and now Manchester United teammate Matthijs de Ligt didn't put a foot wrong when replacing him late on.
But there could still be plenty of movement in the final days of the transfer window at Old Trafford, and deals may be set to get creative to get transfer targets in, with a player exchange potentially on the cards.
Swap deal touted between PSG and Man Utd for Ugarte
That comes courtesy of London World [via Man Utd News], who suggest that talks are ongoing between the Red Devils and the Ligue 1 champions for Ugarte and that a potential swap deal has been mooted.
In this case, such a deal would see United and Ratcliffe finally land midfield target Ugarte, while PSG could take Manchester United outcast Jadon Sancho to the Parc des Princes. Despite his reconciliation with Ten Hag, Sancho is yet to really nail down a spot in the United starting XI, while Ugarte has endured a tough 12 months in Paris.
A swap deal may make sense for all parties. Ugarte was left out of PSG's squad for their opening Ligue 1 clash as they thrashed Le Havre 4-1, and Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Ugarte "wants to join Manchester United" as soon as possible as he looks to end his Parisian nightmare, and reports have previously claimed personal terms have already been agreed.
Meanwhile, Sancho was also left out of Manchester United's squad courtesy of a reported ear infection, while Romano has claimed that the winger's "future remains open" in the final weeks of the transfer window despite the Englishman still having two years left to run on his £250,000-a-week deal at Old Trafford, a salary that puts him among the club's highest earners.
Manchester United highest earners (Via Capology)
Player
Weekly wage
Casemiro
£350,000
Bruno Fernandes
£300,000
Marcus Rashford
£300,000
Mason Mount
£250,000
Jadon Sancho
£250,000
Antony
£200,000
With PSG interested in Sancho but unwilling to pay the asking price, and Manchester United feeling the same way about Ugarte, a swap deal may make sense with each side valuing their star at around £50m.
Any deal could even follow the same blueprint as earlier "swap" deals this summer, where each player was signed individually for a set sum, in order to allow both sides to maximise the benefits from a financial fair play standpoint.