Ashley Williams has praised the ‘excellent’ performances of one Premier League star who notably turned down the chance to sign for Manchester United last summer.
United were linked with a whole host of players before the start of the season, with then-manager Erik ten Hag especially keen to bolster his defensive midfield options.
In the end, Manuel Ugarte was signed from PSG in a deal worth up to £50.7million, but before that the club explored a bargain alternative from the Championship.
Sander Berge was the target, a shock given that he had been twice relegated from the Premier League, first with Sheffield United and then with Burnley last season.
Some even jested that should United sign the Norway International, they too would go down, but in the end the player opted to join Fulham for an initial £20m.
Since then, Berge has become a key cog in Marco Silva’s side, helping the Cottagers to ninth in the table, just five points off the top four.
Ugarte meanwhile has yet to make a significant impact at Old Trafford, with United floundering in 13th ahead of Sunday’s clash against Brighton.
Discussing Berge’s form after Fulham’s 2-0 win at Leicester on Saturday, former Swansea and Everton defender Williams told Match of the Day: ‘I think that he goes under the radar a lot.
‘This man’s come back into the team after missing the last four games and I thought he was excellent all day. As a centre-back, he’s the type of centre-midfielder you want in front of you – getting into the holes, filling spaces, interceptions, just doing the dirty work.
‘We talk a lot about how good Fulham have been. Alex Iwobi, Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira, Emile Smith Rowe – the flair players in that team. They can’t do that without this man.
‘It seems very simple but he’s happy to just be in that midfield, breaking up play. There were so many times he stopped Leicester’s counter-attacks, regained possession and then he just plays it simple, gives it to players in more attacking positions and starts play again.
‘The biggest thing we can say about him is that they haven’t really missed Joao Palhinha who was such an amazing player for them. He’s so good in possession as well.’
Meanwhile, Ugarte’s form cannot be blamed solely on the Uruguayan as nearly every single United player has struggled this season.
In recent games, the 23-year-old has improved, with Paul Scholes praising him after the 2-2 draw at Liverpool.
The United legend said: ‘Ugarte is more than capable of playing for that team. And not just for his legs… I even think his quality on the ball, it surprised me a little bit because I did see a bit of him at PSG.
‘He’s probably done better than I thought he would do. He [Ruben Amorim] said before that Ugarte did well for him at Sporting Lisbon, as a really young player as well so he knows him.
‘This lad is really growing in confidence. I thought he took up some great positions, he helped defensively, he helped with the attack and I thought he had the composure to take the ball as well.’
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