Manuel Ugarte was born in Ciudad de la Costa, Montevideo (Uruguay). He started playing football as a forward at City Park from Ciudad de la Costa, near Lagomar, the neighbourhood where he was living. When the opportunity arose to sign for a club he did so for CA Fénix where he made his debut for the first team at just 15 years of age. The forward would eventually become a box-to-box midfielder that, as an 18 year old, was already the team captain and was already playing for the Uruguayan under-20s. Having played in the South-American Cup and experience at a higher level with his country's Olympic team, Ugarte drew FC Famalicão's attention who eventually signed his in December 2020. 

A little over half a season after arriving in Portugal, he is Sporting CP's newest signing for the 2021/2022 season. Playing for the iconic lions is a huge step forward in his career and Ugarte can't hide how happy he is to represent the Portuguese champions and promises to leave it all on the pitch.