Manuel Ugarte insists he relishing the opportunity to take on the great responsibility that comes with playing for Manchester United.
Ugarte, who completed his £50.5million move from Paris Saint-Germain last week, was officially unveiled to supporters ahead of their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
The Uruguayan became Erik ten Hag's fifth and final signing of the transfer window, with it expected he will be in United's midfield after the international break.
He won 57 of his 98 tackles in Ligue 1 last season, more than any other player in the PSG squad, while also completing 1212 of his 1325 attempted passes, providing the Red Devils head coach a more mobile alternative to Casemiro in midfield.
Ugarte was also a part of Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay side that finished third at the Copa America, starting all six of their games at the tournament.
And the 23-year-old revealed that Facundo Pellistri, who completed a move to Panathinaikos last month, played a huge role in his decision to join the Red Devils.
“First and foremost, its history, because we all know what a massive club United is - one of the best teams in the world,” said Ugarte.
“I also spoke a lot with Facu Pellistri, and he told me all about everything. The atmosphere that's generated, the matchday atmosphere at Old Trafford is incredible.
“So yes, I'm really excited. I'd love to experience United's legendary stadium as a player and feel the presence of the supporters.”
Ugarte also sought the views of Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez, two pillars of this current United side.
“I've watched a few games since the news started to come out,” Ugarte said. “I've also spoken with one or two players - Bruno and Licha - and I have chatted quite a lot.
“So yes, I'm really thrilled and, more than anything, eager and excited, while I obviously realise that it's a great responsibility, and I'm prepared for that.”
While Sunday’s match against Liverpool may not have gone to plan, Ugarte was able to sample the famous Old Trafford atmosphere for the first time.
During his time with PSG and Sporting CP, he has experienced playing away at Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
“I'm really excited. I've never seen anything like it before, these United fans, because, since the news first came out, they've been sending me messages.
Parish 'astounded' by lack of interest in Palace's Eze
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left scratching his head by the lack of interest in midfielder Eberechi Eze during the transfer window.
Eze, who joined Crystal Palace from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, has attracted plenty of interest for his performances with the Eagles over the years.
The 26-year-old got his tally up and running for the new Premier League season on Sunday, netting the equaliser in Palace's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Last season, Eze completed more dribbles (69) and created more chances (54) than anyone else in the Eagles squad, also scoring 11 goals in 27 league appearances.
But another one of Palace's top performers, Michael Olise, secured a move to Bayern Munich in a £50million switch, with Parish relieved they were able to keep at least one of their prized assets for the start of the current campaign.
"I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael and Ebbs in the same window," Parish told Sky Sports News.
"We didn't have in Ebbs the interest that I thought we would have.
"I was astounded. Genuinely astounded. I mean, the guy's just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person."
Palace did have plenty of interest in defender Marc Guehi and rejected multiple bids from Newcastle, the latest of which reached £65m.
Guehi impressed for England at Euro 2024 in the absence of Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, starting every game on their way to the final.
Parish was expecting Guehi to leave Selhurst Park during the transfer window, but with Joachim Andersen returning to Fulham on a permanent transfer and an injury to new arrival Chadi Riad, forced him to alter his plans.
"I don't think the window worked out exactly the same format that we thought it would," Parish added.
"Maybe we thought at the beginning it'd be more likely that Marc Guehi went and we kept Joachim Andersen.
"We accepted that bid [for Andersen] which then made it very difficult really to sell both of our starting centre-backs in one window."
The Magpies' attempts to sign Guehi rolled on for most of the window, with the Eagles standing firm on their valuation having earned sizeable fees for Olise and Andersen.
Parish was able to welcome eight new faces to Selhurst Park, including the permanent arrival of Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah and the loan transfer for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah on the final day of the window.
But the Eagles chairman is all too aware that he will not be able to hold on to Guehi, and his other star players, for too long amid the financial powers from the clubs in the division and across Europe.
"We're proud of the fact that Michael Olise's gone to Bayern Munich," said Parish.
"We want to be selling to the top clubs, or to clubs like Newcastle who've got great aspirations and have recently been in the Champions League.
"So we have to manage all of those things. We won't get really great young talent to come to us if they think they're going to be stuck."
"We want to be playing in the Champions League. The reality is we don't right now.
"That's what players want to achieve in their career and we respect that and we respect the fact that sometimes we're going to be a pathway to that."
Teams begin hunt for promotion as League B, League C action to kick off fourth Concacaf Nations League
The much-anticipated fourth edition of the Concacaf Nations League gets underway on Wednesday, when 16 League B teams begin their hunt for promotion to taste League A action in the tournament’s next edition.
Split into four groups, the countries will face each other twice during the FIFA Match Windows in September, October, and November. However, unlike previous editions, matches will now be played at a centralized venue per group to help alleviate some of the travel challenges in the region.
Group winners will be promoted to League A, while fourth-place finishes are relegated to League C. Additionally, the tournament will help to decide berths for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Group A
El Salvador, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Bonaire comprise the first group. El Salvador returns to League B after being relegated in last year’s tournament, while Bonaire makes its debut after earning a promotion from League C.
Montserrat and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will try to build on their 2023/24 Nations League campaign, in which they both finished with nine points.
Group B
Curaçao, Saint Lucia, Grenada, and Saint Martin are the teams drawn into Group B.
Saint Martin was promoted to League B, coming off an undefeated run in last year’s Nations League, while Curaçao is back in League B for the first time in three years after being relegated from League A. Grenada is also back after being relegated for the first time in four years.
Meanwhile, Saint Lucia, which tallied 10 points last year, will be hoping to ascend to League A for the first time.
Group C
Haiti, Puerto Rico, Aruba, and Sint Maarten round out Group C.
Aruba returns to League B for the first time since 2019/20 via promotion. Haiti also is back after being relegated.
Sint Maarten and Puerto Rico will rely on top scorers Gerwin Lake and Ricardo Rivera to lead the way.
Group D
The four teams in Group D are the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica.
Dominica arrives via promotion from League C to rub shoulders with Dominican Republic, and Antigua and Barbuda, who are on the hunt for a first-ever League A promotion, while Bermuda aims to improve after going 2-2-2 in last year’s edition.
At the conclusion of the group stage in November, the four group winners will qualify for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup Group Stage, and the two best second-place finishers will advance to the 2025 Gold Cup Prelims.
The Gold Cup Prelims are scheduled for March 2025.
Meanwhile, League C action is also scheduled for Wednesday, with Bahamas and US Virgin Islands to open their Group A accounts. Barbados is the other team in the group.
Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands are set to cross swords in Group B, which also includes Belize, while British Virgin Islands will visit Cayman Islands in Group C, which also has St Kitts and Nevis.
At the end of the Group Stage in October, the three group winners and the best second-place finishers will advance to the 2024 Concacaf Nations League Play-In. The Play-In will take place in November 2024.
Palmer, Watkins and Foden withdraw from Carsley's England squad
England have confirmed that Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer has withdrawn from their squad for the Three Lions' upcoming Nations League fixtures.
Palmer, along with Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, were named in interim head coach Lee Carsley's first Three Lions squad but have since returned to their clubs.
Manchester City's Phil Foden will also play no part in their matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland after not reporting with illness.
It serves as a significant blow for Carsley in his audition for the England role on a full-time basis, with Palmer a player the 50-year-old knows well from his time in charge of the Under-21's.
Palmer was part of Carsley's European Under-21 Championship winning side last year, netting once in their semi-final victory over Israel.
Of those included in the recent Nations League squad, only Anthony Gordon (14), Morgan Gibbs-White (15), Angel Gomes (16) and Noni Maudeke (19) have made more appearances under Carsley than Palmer (13).
Palmer has continued on from his sensational return last season into this, notching one goal and four assists in three Premier League games so far this season.
He has also created 11 chances this season, a total only bettered by Dwight McNeil (13) and Andreas Pereira (14) in the top flight so far.
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