Manuel Ugarte - Scouting Report on Fabinho's Potential Replacement

Including a comparison with the Reds' recent targets

A number of Portuguese outlets are reporting genuine interest from Liverpool in Sporting Lisbon’s defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte. A release clause of £53m sounds like a good deal, given the player is one of the best in his position across Europe.

Ugarte, 22, moved to Portugal from Uruguayan club CA Fenix in January 2021. He played half-a-season for Famalicao before signing for Sporting that very summer. His progression towards the elite level of Portuguese football has been smooth yet deserved because of the consistency in performances.

The Uruguay international has made 82 appearances in all competitions for Sporting since the start of last season, amassing 5194 minutes of playing time in the process. He is yet to miss a game through injury for them, which is not a bad stat to have (the two games he has missed in Portugal was due to Covid).

With introduction and base knowledge out of the way, let’s take an in-depth look at the player, what his profile says and whether he can be a good fit at Liverpool, provided the Reds exercise the clause in his contract.

Introduction and Player Profile - Manuel Ugarte

Manuel Ugarte is a defensive midfielder by position and profile. Although he has played a lone six previously, he is used in a double-pivot by the Sporting boss Rúben Amorim, who prefers to play the 3-4-3 system with two sitting midfielders in front of a back three.

With regard to attributes, the Uruguayan reads the game exceptionally well, is robust in tackling, has decent pace to help the team out in defensive transitions and possesses excellent passing accuracy numbers (92.04% pass accuracy in Liga Portugal this season).

The heat map above shows the sort of areas Ugarte likes to operate in. Since he predominantly plays on the right of a midfield pivot, there is more action on the right-central side of the field. The image also depicts that he is not the one to move towards the opposition box in search of goals. He is more of a midfield destroyer rather than a box-to-box operator.

The 22-year-old is naturally one of the best in the business when it comes to ball recovery. More than that, he is very good in making counter-press recoveries. He averages 5.94 counter-press recoveries per 90, which is in the top 10 among midfielders in the Portuguese league.