Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte admitted there are certain areas of his game he can improve after being played out of position on international duty with Uruguay.

Ugarte arrived from Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain with a reputation as a tough-tackling enforcer in the middle of the park. The 23-year-old was once again included in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad for Uruguay’s World Cup qualifiers in October and was surprisingly deployed at centre-back during the 1-0 defeat to Peru in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“It was not a good match,” he told ESPN. “We did not play well, it was a shame because I still believe that we are much better, but the match was ugly for us. The dressing room was strong before the match, the atmosphere was nice, but little by little we faded and we did not show good things in the match.

“Everyone can play and has the conditions to do so, but many times, when changing players it takes a little [time] to adapt. It is not an excuse either, the team’s performance dropped. We need to go deeper, as we saw against Peru, we have to keep working.

“Honestly, I felt good with the ball, but I lack certain things as a defender. These are things that always enrich a player.”

United boss Erik ten Hag has utilised Ugarte solely in central midfield so far, though the Sporting CP star’s acclimatisation to English football has not been helped by the Red Devils’ indifferent start to the campaign.

Last season’s FA Cup winners are 14th in the Premier League and have just one win from their last six matches in all competitions, seeing the pressure increase on manager Ten Hag.

The Dutchman is still in his position and will almost certainly be in the Old Trafford dugout when United host Brentford on Saturday. However, Ugarte still has to take on Ecuador as Uruguay aim to secure a place at the 2026 World Cup.

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