New Man Utd signing disagrees with Ten Hag as expert tips him to ‘be great’ for the Red Devils

New Man Utd signing Manuel Ugarte insists he is “ready” to play games for the Red Devils despite his lack of minutes in pre-season.

Man Utd completed the signing of the Uruguay international on deadline day after months of speculation over whether the midfielder would sign from Paris Saint-Germain.

The Red Devils struck a deal worth around £51m for Ugarte as they looked for a player who could bring more solidity to their central midfield.

Casemiro has been heavily criticised over the last 12 months with teams finding it too easy to bypass the Man Utd midfield in the Premier League.

And fans are excited to see what Ugarte can bring to Erik ten Hag’s side this season but the Man Utd boss has played down their expectations as the Uruguayan still needs to get up to speed.

Ten Hag said: “Manuel Ugarte, he didn’t play so far in the season, not one match minute, and so he needs to build his fitness state and then we have to build him in the team.

“And then I am sure he will contribute to our level and he will be an important player, but that will take a couple of weeks, maybe even months.”

But Ugarte has claimed the opposite with the Man Utd midfielder quoted as saying: “I feel very good. I prepared myself and I’m always ready.”

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French football expert Julien Laurens thinks Ugarte could be a really good signing for Man Utd if they don’t expect much from the 23-year-old with the ball.

Laurens said on the Gab and Juls Show : “He’s a really good player. Him and Kobbie Mainoo I think could be a really good partnership. At PSG he was really good at the beginning, he presses well, he runs a lot, he works so hard, he recovers a lot of the ball, he’s like the enforcer that you need.

“On the ball he has some limitations, Luis Enrique wanted a six that was much better on the ball.

“Ugarte will be great at United if the build-up structure at United is not built around him. This is a key signing out of position for your team. He’s going to do so much great work for you.”

Rio Ferdinand has leapt to the defence of Casemiro with the former Man Utd defender insisting that the Brazilian is being asked to do something that was never demanded of him at Real Madrid.

Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “He’s almost 32 or he’s 32 years old, right, but when I look at him, I just feel that he’s being asked to do a lot of things, like play 30-yard balls and dictate the pace of the game etc.

“These are things that Man United would never have recruited him for. He has never been asked to do this at Real Madrid.”