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Manchester United are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table with Erik ten Hag under enormous pressure to spark a turnaround and for that, he needs all hands on deck.
However, the team is once again reeling under an injury crisis with summer recruit Manuel Ugarte the latest to be sidelined as per reports from Uruguayan media.
Against Ecuador, he was played in his conventional defensive midfield role and lasted till 80 minutes before succumbing to an injury and as per El Pais, he “immediately asked for a substitution”.
That’s not all as Tenfield have reported that the 23-year-old has likely suffered a muscle injury and is definitely ruled out for this weekend’s Brentford game.
Ugarte injury
“He suffered muscle pain in his right thigh and after examining him, doctor Enrique Ramos placed an ice pack on the affected area. He will be out for Manchester United.”
The extent of the injury is yet unknown but is a huge blow after reports stated that the United boss was considering handing the former Paris Saint-Germain star a lot more minutes moving forward.
United’s midfield lacks energy with Casemiro’s poor form a huge concern for the club. The Brazilian was sensational in his first season in red but has struggled badly since.
His last league start came in the game against Liverpool in September with Ten Hag preferring a partnership of Christian Eriksen and Kobbie Mainoo since then.
Ugarte was bought in the summer to bring stability to the base of the midfield but the manager had warned against expecting too much from him so soon.
Bad news for EtH
But after completing his adaptation process, his minutes were expected to increase but for this injury to play spoilsport.
Brentford are flying high at the moment and are in 11th place in the table. They have scored 13 goals as compared to United’s five and Ten Hag needs his defenders to step up.
In case, the Uruguay international cannot make it, the manager might be forced to tweak his team again and hope that it works out.
The board have granted him a reprieve for now but if results do not improve soon, the former Ajax coach might be out of a job very soon.
Feature image Ernesto Ryan via Getty Images
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