Marco van Basten slams ‘bizarre’ £50m Manchester United transfer: ‘He’s not even worth 25% of that’

Marco van Basten has criticised Manchester United’s decision to sign Manuel Ugarte and believes the midfielder is ‘not even worth a quarter’ of his £50.5 million transfer fee.

United signed Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer window with Erik ten Hag keen to strengthen the defensive side of his midfield.

The Uruguay international has made five appearances so far, and his first start in the Premier League came in United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on September 29.

Ugarte has been an unused substitute for United’s last two matches – the 3-3 draw against Porto in the Europa League and the goalless stalemate against Aston Villa last Sunday.

And Van Basten believes the midfielder is not up to the level that United need to improve.

‘Now also that last one, Ugarte, who cost £50 million, you think, ‘how do you even think about paying so much money for that?’ That is really bizarre,’ Van Basten said on Ziggo Sport’s ‘Rondo’ show.

When it was suggested that Van Basten might not know Ugarte that well having only watched him in two games for United, the former Ajax and AC Milan striker replied: ‘No, but I could already see in that match that he’s not even worth a quarter of that amount.’

Van Basten went on to add: ‘It’s true that the big clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Arsenal, they get the better ones and he always comes with second-rate players. That team has not got better.

‘He remains a good trainer but if you see the purchasing policy and those boys which were then bought for 700 million, I don’t see any return on that, they’re still poorly organised.

‘There is no star walking around who organises it, who leads, none.

‘A few years ago Marcus Rashford was a great player, he can’t do anything about this any more, it’s unbelievable. It’s strange for that a boy who was a world star years ago.’

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