Even the mere mention of Ilkay Gundogan’s name is enough to send Manchester United supporters into a daze of PTSD.
A year on from his David de Gea-assisted brace in the 2023 FA Cup final, the Man City legend is on his way back to English shores.
To think, those of a Red Devil persuasion thought they had seen the last of a midfielder who scored or assisted no fewer than seven goals against Manchester United, that Wembley brace included.
According to Sky Sports, Ilkay Gundogan is back in England ahead of an unexpected return to the Etihad. The 33-year-old Germany international is leaving Barcelona on a free transfer after one underwhelming season at the Camp Nou.
But Paul Scholes, the United icon, cannot help but wonder if City’s bitter rivals should have made an approach of their own.
Or, if not the man himself, a player in the Gundogan mould.
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Manchester United legend shares Manuel Ugarte doubts
“I think thats the type of player they need,” Scholes tells The Overlap, also throwing into the mix a £51 million playmaker who recently turned down the chance to leave Real Sociedad for Liverpool.
“(Man United need) a (Martin) Zubimendi or – I’m gonna say – Gundogan. A controlling midfield player to take the sting out. I am going to say Gundogan.”
There are, of course, many reasons why Man United were never going to go for Gundogan. And his sky blue past is only one of them.
Ineos have shifted the focus towards youth and potential since loosening the Glazer’s vice-like grip, with 33-year-old Gundogan – those Man City allegiances aside – exactly the sort of player United are actively avoiding these days.
Manuel Ugarte, nine years Gundogan’s junior, is the man most likely to fill that sizeable void in Erik ten Hag’s midfield.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Ugarte – valued at £51 million by Paris Saint-Germain – is edging closer to securing his dream move to Old Trafford. Talks between the two clubs are now at the ‘final stages’.
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Scholes, by his own admission, is not particularly well versed in all things Ugarte.
But he does wonder if an ultra-aggressive, high-pressing, tough-tackling number six is the best fit with the two-time Champions League winner arguing that Ten Hag would benefit more from a touch of class and composure.
“Ive not seen too much of Ugarte. I saw him two or three times last year,” Scholes adds before casting aspersions on the Uruguayan’s technical ability and making a rather unflattering comparison with former loanee Sofyan Amrabat.
“I’m not sure technically he is good enough. He seems to be a little bit more of an Amrabat.
“I don’t think we need someone to come in and win tackles. I think we need someone to come in and control games so it’s not up and down every two minutes. You concede goals you score goals (under the current tactics).
“It just needs to be someone with a tactical brain, a football brain, to slow things down.”
Ugarte is certainly not the ‘slow things down’ type. In contrast, expect to see the PSG powerhouse sprint around the pitch like a hound chasing a squirrel.
Then again, if Ten Hag is keen to turn Man United into a high-pressing team in the mould of Jurgen Klopp’s best Liverpool sides – and Friday’s 1-0 win over Fulham suggests that is indeed the plan – Ugarte could prove to be a far better fit than Scholes thinks.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/tnc2NlK