Aston Villa continue to be linked with an interest in Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who is said to have a £55m release clause in his current contract.
Ugarte, 22, joined Sporting in 2021 and has gone on to establish himself as a fundamental figure for the Portuguese giants, featuring 84 times for them across all competitions.
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With eight caps for Uruguay to his name too, he has a big future ahead of him having now emerged as one of the top young defensive midfielders currently plying their trade in Europe.
According to the Daily Mail, Villa are in the hunt to land Ugarte’s signature this summer, while it’s noted that he has a £55m release clause in his current contract with Sporting and so it will take a significant offer to prise him away.
It’s added that Liverpool, Newcastle Utd and Chelsea have all been linked with an interest too, but their priorities might lie elsewhere, and so that could in turn give Villa an advantage in this particular pursuit.
While Unai Emery has overseen a major improvement in our midfield, with the likes of Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz and John McGinn establishing themselves as key figures in the side, there is a glaring lack of quality competition and depth in the event of absences.
If we have ambitions of consistently breaking into the top six moving forward, we need to raise the level of quality in the squad, and particularly with the objective of competing on multiple fronts for silverware too, it’s crucial we have high-level options in every position.
Given his performances for Sporting and having also shown his quality and potential in Europe too, Ugarte could be a smart signing for Villa this summer, and one that fits into Emery’s style and system to ensure we build on the excellent work that he has done so far since taking charge.
It’s worth noting that Villa have been linked with various names in recent weeks though, and so time will tell who emerges as our top targets this summer to help us kick on further.