Man United set for £6m FIFA boost amid Manuel Ugarte 'disaster'
Manchester United are in line to receive up to £6million in compensation payments from FIFA after Manuel Ugarte's injury at the World Cup.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who has revealed that the Red Devils will be able to claim for the injury to their midfielder.
The Uruguay international was stretchered off just before half-time in his country's 1-0 defeat to Spain, with early suggestions that he has suffered a cruciate ligament injury.
Wyness has labelled it as a "disaster" for United, and noted that it will have serious financial implications, with the midfielder believed to be earning a weekly wage of £120,000.
Ugarte had been lined up to be sold by United this summer, after a disappointing campaign in the Premier League.
Those plans have now been shelved, and Wyness is clear that a sale may also be impossible next summer, with Ugarte likely to need at least nine months to recover.
Man United had no 'insurance' in place for Manuel Ugarte
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has made it clear that United will seek compensation from FIFA for the injury.
He emphasised that clubs do not have "insurance policies" readily available for their players at major tournaments, as the "premiums" are simply too high.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he broke down the financial implications of the injury for United.
"He's on about £120,000 a week, I've heard. Now, FIFA will cover a large portion of that. I think up to about £6m of that will be covered by FIFA," Wyness said.
"So I've had that before when I've had to claim for injured players on international duty through FIFA. I've seen that work, and it does work, but there'll obviously be the loss of the sale fee, which they had hoped to get in terms of balancing their books.
"So there's that; then there'll be the whole cost of rehab, et cetera. If he's going to take nine months to recover, then next season is going to be pretty much of a write-off as well to some degree in terms of a sale. So it's two years that you've got to look at.
"When he's back fit, then the FIFA thing stops. So overall, it's a bit of a disaster. Clubs can't really insure against these things because the premiums are just too high to be able to put those insurance policies in place.
"For United it'll be a blow. It'll be a hole in what they would have got for the fee. That's going to be the biggest thing, I think."
Man United line up double signing after Ugarte blow
Former United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider earlier this week that his former club will now accelerate their bid to add a new centre-midfielder to their squad as soon as possible.
The ex-recruitment man even suggested that there could be two new additions in the middle of the park, in order to compensate for Ugarte's absence.
Michael Carrick was not viewing the former PSG man as a big part of his plans for next term, but would have called upon him if needed.
Brown is clear that United have already been working on midfield targets, and with Ugarte now off the table as an option, they could make concrete moves for two new stars.