Sheikh Jassim 'role' in Manuel Ugarte to Man United transfer delay as PSG send strong message

Manchester United have been embroiled in a 'battle of egos' this summer as they try to bring PSG midfielder Manuel Ugarte to Old Trafford and it dates back to Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani's interest in the club, it has been claimed.

Last year, the Reds were involved in a seemingly endless takeover saga as Ineos' Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim battled for a stake in United. Eventually after many negotiations and false dawns, Sir Jim was announced on Christmas Eve as having won the race to invest in the Reds.

After the deal was eventually ratified in February, Ratcliffe took aim at Sheikh Jassim joking that he did not think the billionaire was 'real' and that the Glazer family had not met him. According to journalist Duncan Castle, this saga angered PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi who wanted to make an example of Ratcliffe via the deal for Ugarte.

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It is claimed that PSG chief wanted to ensure that any deal to bring the defensive midfielder to Old Trafford was done on the French club's terms. This is despite it being obvious throughout the summer that Ugarte wanted to leave Paris for Manchester.

Speaking on the podcast, Castle said: "Paris Saint Germain are telling me they expect the deal to be done, they expect to secure the €60m that they have resolutely asked for throughout this entire process. They say they will not be doing the deal on a loan basis for the first season with an obligation to buy in the summer, they want the cash and transfer done in full as soon as possible.

With the window heading towards its conclusion, MEN Sport understands United are now closing in on a deal to bring the