Manuel Ugarte is on the run after fleeing Old Trafford on Sunday when witnessing his new club’s humiliating home defeat by Liverpool.
Manchester United’s new £50M midfielder scarpered shortly after seeing Mo Salah grab the visitors third goal in a 3-0 win.
Greater Manchester Police have now launched a full investigation and have closed off all ferry ports and airports, warning the public not to approach him and to call them immediately if they spot anything suspicious.
An eyewitnesses told Paddy Power News, that the 23-year-old turned to his agent after Salah’s third goal and declared; “F**k this, I’m out of here, this lot are total bobbins.”
Startled day trippers who were still queuing outside the Megastore well into the second-half witnessed Ugarte running up Sir Matt Busby Way trying to hail a taxi.
A member of staff at a Tesco in Trafford Park told us that a man fitting Ugarte’s description purchased “enough pork pies and sausage rolls to keep him going for at least three days, some hair dye and a pair of sunglasses.”
This is the last time anyone has seen the Uruguayan international, but latest surveillance reports suggest that he could be holed up somewhere in the Peak District.
United’s new football supremo, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, even went up in his own helicopter this morning to try to track down his new big money signing.
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 28: Ineos CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe is seen during the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 28, 2023 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
His right-hand man, Sir Dave Brailsford, put the INEOS cycling team on “red-alert” and sent several of them into the Cheshire countryside to try to find the player who is now classed as AWOL.
A farmer who lives in the area, described the scene as like “something out of ‘The Fugitive’”, with unconfirmed reports reaching us that the 23-year-old dove head first into a swirling pool of water from a great height rather than rejoin his new teammates for a post-match debrief on Monday.
And a close friend of the player revealed how the Harrison Ford vehicle is among his favourite movies, so “he’ll relish spending a few nights out in the cold and trying to disguise his appearance, though finding the one-armed man who forced him to sign for United might prove a greater challenge.”
A United spokesperson told us earlier today that Ugarte, who was officially unveiled on deadline day and was hoped to be the final cog in boss Erik ten-Hag’s new-look United team, was “in serious breach of his contract” due to his disappearance and pleaded with him to “see sense and return to the club immediately”.
They then broke down in tears before explaining how “we cannot face the prospect of Casemiro playing another minute in the holding midfield role.”
*Paddy Power’s football coverage is pure fantasy – don’t believe it for a second
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