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Ruben Amorim insists he is ‘very happy’ to be reunited with Manuel Ugarte at Manchester United and believes he has ‘a lot of room to grow’.
Ugarte has largely underwhelmed at Old Trafford since joining the Red Devils in a £50m move from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer.
The Uruguayan midfielder will look to kick-start his Premier League career under a manager he helped win the Portuguese league title with at Sporting Lisbon.
PSG poached Ugarte from Lisbon after that title-winning campaign but the French giants were happy to sell him just 12 months later.
Ugarte struggled to assert himself under former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag but will hope to fare better under his replacement, Amorim.
Amorim has described his former Sporting star as a ‘very talented boy’ and says he is ‘very happy’ to be reunited with the 23-year-old in Manchester.
‘All the Uruguayans I managed are incredible and that’s why I love all Uruguayans,’ Amorim told TNT Sports Mexico.
‘Manuel Ugarte is a very talented boy and has a lot of room to grow. I am very happy to know that I have him back at Manchester United.’
Amorim officially takes over at Manchester United on Monday after leading out Sporting Lisbon for the final time against Braga on Sunday evening.
The Portuguese coach is set to leave with Sporting sitting top of the table and having recently masterminded an impressive 4-1 Champions League win over Premier League champions Manchester City.
Amorim has already admitted he would love to bring Sporting midfielder Pedro Goncalves with him to Old Trafford but says he will not be signing any of his current players in January.
‘I won’t in January, that’s what I said. I don’t know about the summer,’ Amorim said on Saturday.
‘The first point – to hold on until the summer. Sporting’s players are very good players. I don’t know. We’ll see.’
Asked specifically about a potential move for Goncalves after he becomes United manager, Amorim said: ‘He can play in any team in the world and with any player, because he is a great player.
‘I could take him anywhere. He is very funny, which improves the personal relationship.
‘But he is also very intelligent, but he also has to focus on Sporting because we have to be champions this year. But he could play in any team in the world.’
Manchester United, currently 13th in the Premier League table, face Leicester City on Sunday in their final game before Amorim takes charge.
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