Manuel Ugarte shows true colours with Darwin Nunez remark as Man United close on £50m deal

Manuel Ugarte is braced to brush off any criticism heading his way at Manchester United - just like Darwin Nunez has had to do at Liverpool.

The Red Devils' newest recruit will join from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth up to £50.7million, and he'll have fellow Copa America runner-up Nunez for company in the Premier League. A familiar face could help Ugarte bed in among his new surroundings, though the midfield general has shown all the signs of possessing a one-man army mentality.

Ugarte, 23, is an independent spirit when it comes to tackling online criticism, something Liverpool's record signing has had to endure plenty of in his career. And United's impending arrival demonstrated not only his own mental fortitude but a desire to protect those close to him when addressing the topic of social media and its impact on players.

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"For example, Darwin [Nunez] had moments where he was killed badly, and that is also something that has a lot of merit when you see where he is today," Ugarte told Uruguayan broadcaster Channel 10 earlier this summer. "You have to be in the right head to get to where he got to with all the damage he got.

"When I see a teammate get hit, I sometimes feel like the next day it could be me, because people kill you the way they put you up there. The best thing is to surround yourself with people you love and trust, and not give the ball to the net, because that’s how the net is nowadays."

Ugarte - who reportedly underwent his United medical on Wednesday - acknowledged in the same interview that footballers are