Manchester United explain why they are signing Manuel Ugarte

Erik ten Hag said Manchester United needed to address the balance amid the imminent signing of Manuel Ugarte.

United are finalising a £50.8million move for Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Ugarte, who arrived in Manchester on Tuesday and is expected to be confirmed before tonight's 11pm transfer deadline.

In order to sign Ugarte, United have had to sell Scott McTominay to Napoli for a fee rising to £30m. Ten Hag considered McTominay to be a No.10 and United's only current defensive midfielder is Casemiro after Sofyan Amrabat's season-long loan from Fiorentina ended.

When asked to compare McTominay and Ugarte, Ten Hag said: "I think you can’t, it's not a comparison. You can’t compare those two, they are different players.

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"We had three No.10s, we didn’t have any more holding midfielders, we had one. So that is the idea behind [signing him]."

United are set to start with Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo in midfield against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. Ugarte has not been registered in time to be considered for selection at Old Trafford and the 23-year-old has not played since Uruguay beat Canada in the the Copa America third-place match on July 14.

Mason Mount is out for United with a muscular injury that is due to keep him sidelined for a few games. Joshua Zirkzee could come in for his full debut, Alejandro Garnacho is pushing to start and Matthijs de Ligt could also come into the defence.

"Mason Mount, you all have seen, is not available for the weekend and then that’s it," Ten Hag clarified. "The same squad as last week."

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