Manchester United are interested in signing Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte, according to A BOLA.

The Portuguese tabloid have revealed that the Red Devils will “enter” the “race” for the Uruguayan international’s signature.

A whole host of teams have been linked with Ugarte, including Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain but Chelsea have been the team pushing the hardest for the player.

It is believed that new boss Mauricio Pochettino is a big fan of the 22-year-old and he has asked the Blues to sign him.

However, it appears that the London club are not willing to pay Ugarte’s €60m (£52m) release clause upfront. Due to Financial Fairplay considerations, they want a deal based on installments. That could leave United with an opening to hijack the transfer.

A BOLA claim that the Manchester club have good relations with Sporting, following the deal for Bruno Fernandes a few years ago, and it could help them in negotiations for Ugarte.

Why are United interested in Ugarte?

Manager Erik ten Hag could be left short of options in the middle of the park, with a number of departures expected this summer.

Marcel Sabitzer will return to Bayern Munich after his loan spell, Fred is expected to leave, while there are reports that Scott McTominay could be sold. With that being the case, bringing in more support for Casemiro is vitally important and Ugarte is apparently being eyed as a possible solution.