Manchester United's Manuel Ugarte suffered a knee ligament injury while playing for Uruguay against Spain, and the setback could alter the chase for Matheus Fernandes. Ugarte was carried off on a stretcher in Uruguay's 1-0 loss at Estadio Akron.
Manchester United said assessment of the 25-year-old is ongoing to decide the best treatment and rehabilitation timescale. He left the ground in a wheelchair, and that detail now sits alongside the club's transfer plans because the midfielder was one of the players tied to their crowded central area.
Uruguay setback at Estadio Akron
Manchester United's club statement was direct: Manuel Ugarte has suffered a knee ligament injury while representing Uruguay in Friday's World Cup group-stage match against Spain. Reports from Uruguay indicated scans showed an ACL tear, turning a single collision into a major interruption for a player United brought in during 2024 for a fee that could rise to £50.5million.
The injury arrived in a match that ended in a 1-0 loss for Uruguay, and the stretcher exit made the scale of the problem obvious before the medical process even began. United's next step is not a public transfer decision but a medical one, with treatment and rehabilitation still being mapped out around the injury assessment.
Tottenham and Manchester United
That creates a direct market effect. Tottenham have been linked with Mateus Fernandes, and Manchester United are also interested in signing him, so any long absence for Ugarte can complicate whether United can move a midfielder on before adding another.
United already have Ederson lined up from Atalanta for £35million plus £3.8million in add-ons, with a four-year contract and a one-year option expected to follow. Ederson said, "It's practically almost all sorted," and also said, "I have to make the most of this moment. I am here and it is a wonderful thing, something you must always live to the fullest."
For Tottenham, the practical opening is simple: if United's midfield shape tightens around Ugarte's injury, the path to Fernandes looks cleaner. Whether Manchester United still pursue Mateus Fernandes now that Manuel Ugarte is injured is the question that now hangs over the race.
