Sporting Lisbon may now have ‘no alternative’ but to sell Manuel Ugarte with Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United, Aston Villa and Newcastle all in the race for the Uruguay international.
Sporting always knew the dangers of missing out on Champions League qualification.
Given their current financial predicament, the Portuguese giants were in no position where they could afford to squander the potential riches of Europe’s most high profile club competition.
Ruben Amorim’s side are currently fourth in Portugal’s top-flight. Eight points adrift of Braga in the final Champions League spot. Defeat to Juventus on Thursday night, meanwhile, ended their hopes of securing qualification via an alternative route.
As such, Lisbon-based publication Leonino believe that Sporting may now have ‘no alternative’ but to let one of their prized assets depart. Ugarte, alongside Pedro ‘Pote’ Goncalves, is perhaps the most sell-able.
The tough-tackling Uruguayan has his fair share of admirers, after all, while talks over a new contract at the Estadio Jose Alvalade have been at a standstill for a number of months.
Tottenham in talks with Sporting Lisbon’s Manuel Ugarte
According to The Mirror (26 March, page 71), Tottenham are in talks with Ugarte’s representatives. Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle are also interested, say O Jogo.
Ugarte has a £53 million release clause in his contract but Sporting may be tempted to accept a smaller fee, given that the former Famalicao enforcer appears to have little intention of signing a new deal.
Sporting’s very own ‘Man of Steel’, the iron-clad Ugarte has brilliantly stepped into a void created by the departure of Joao Palhinha to Fulham last term. He shares the Portugal international’s aggression, energy and determination in the centre of the park, three attributes evident during Sporting’s Europa League victory over Arsenal victory.
His average of six successful tackles per game is by far and away the most in the competition’s knockout stages, according to WhoScored.
Aston Villa may feel they need competition for Boubacar Kamara in the centre of the park while, at Tottenham, Ugarte could help offset the absence of an injured Rodrigo Bentancur.
Leeds, meanwhile, have conceded 11 goals in two Premier League games without their most influential midfielder, Tyler Adams.
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