Man United transfer news: Juventus to 'take advantage' of friendly location to scout midfielder

Juventus are reportedly ready to up their interest in Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte.

Despite the high expectations after a £42.1m transfer in 2024, Ugarte has failed to deliver at Old Trafford.

As well as making just 29 starts in the Premier League, the 24-year-old has barely been used by Michael Carrick since the interim appointment of the head coach in January.

Ugarte has recently said that he remains focused on life at Man United as he bids to stay sharp ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

His efforts on that front should be aided by an outing for Uruguay when they face Algeria on Tuesday night.

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How will Juventus up Ugarte interest?

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus have plans to watch how Uguarte performs for his country.

Their efforts are helped by the friendly between the South American and African nations taking place at their Allianz Stadium.

Juventus are long-term admirers of Ugarte having been interested in signing him when he was at Sporting Lisbon.

Since departing the Portuguese giants in 2023, Ugarte has had mixed success at Paris Saint-Germain and Man United.

Should be ever link up with Juventus, he would likely be presented with a regular spot in the engine room at the Turin-Based club.

Ugarte has not completed 90 minutes for Man United since the 1-1 draw at Leeds United on January 4, a fixture which was Ruben Amorim's last game in charge.

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An obvious major stumbling block

Even if Ugarte is interested in signing for Juventus, it may prove difficult for the Serie A side to negotiate a fee with their Premier League counterparts.

If Man United want to recoup the fee that they shelled out less than two years ago, Juventus would be committing to a fee that would feature in their top 10 outlays of all time.

At the present time, Juventus are three points adrift of the Champions League qualification places in the Serie A table.

Remaining among European football's elite is imperative if they wish to stay as strong contenders for Ugarte.