Offer being prepared: Liverpool are advancing in chase for 22 y/o powerhouse – report

Liverpool are understood to be making advances in their pursuit of Manuel Ugarte, with an offer for the 22-year-old reportedly imminent.

Portuguese news outlet Record claimed earlier this week [via Sport Witness] that the Reds lead the chase to sign the Sporting Lisbon midfielder, whose agent Jorge Chijane told O Jogo that the player is ‘sure’ to leave the Estadio Jose Alvalade and will have his future ‘resolved’ in the next two weeks.

Now, as per The Transfer Room, “There has been plenty of rumours but according to Rodrigo Romano the ones surrounding Liverpool’s interest in Manuel Ugarte are true as the club are in discussions with the agents of the 22-year-old Uruguayan international.

“Liverpool are set to present a deal to Sporting Lisbon this week with the two sides already talking about numbers as the deal is advancing.”

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This report will come as a relief to Liverpool fans who may have been fearing that Jurgen Klopp’s side would fall away in the chase for Ugarte, whose club are believed to have also held talks with Aston Villa (Football Transfers).

Judging by what Uruguayan journalist Romano has claimed, and the declaration from Chijane, it looks increasingly as if there could be significant movement regarding the midfielder’s future over the coming days.

If the Reds are to see off Unai Emery’s much-improved side in the chase for the 22-year-old, it’d have to be seen as a fine coup by the Merseysiders.

Ugarte is renowned as a powerhouse of a player in the midfield engine room, winning an astonishing 4.66 tackles per game this season, placing him among the top 1% of positional peers in Europe for that metric (FBref).

Meanwhile, Record‘s player ratings for Sporting’s draw against Midtjylland in the Europa League in February hailed him for a ‘tireless’ performance, also stating that he ‘looks like he’s made of steel’.

All going well, the offer Liverpool are seemingly about to present will turn the Portuguese club’s heads, and also that of the 22-year-old titan.

📚 EOTK Insider: The two-time gold medalist who is the only man to sign for Liverpool and Everton on two separate occasions