“Huge help” – Manchester United player reading Dostoevsky and Márquez during injury recovery

Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte is finding ways to deal with the mental side of his long recovery from a serious knee injury.

The 25-year-old suffered a cruciate ligament injury while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup this summer. That left Manchester United facing a lengthy wait to have him available again.

Ugarte has now explained how working with a psychologist is helping him through that process. It goes well beyond football, with famous writers such as Dostoevsky and Gabriel García Márquez among the subjects keeping him occupied.

Ugarte explains psychological work during recovery

Speaking in a video shared by psychologist Gabriel Gutiérrez, and relayed by ESPN Deportes, Ugarte revealed their work actually started before his injury.

“We have a very good relationship. I started working with him last season and he’s been alongside me during my recovery from the cruciate ligament injury,” he said.

The Manchester United player then explained why those conversations have become particularly useful.

“He helps me a lot because he makes me look beyond the day-to-day. Sometimes you get angry about things that happen during the day which aren’t worth it.”

“We always talk a lot about everything, not just sport, but also on a personal level. That helps me become aware of what I’ve achieved, where I am, and I really enjoy it.”

“The hours fly by because we talk about everything. We talk a lot about books.”

Those aren’t necessarily the conversations you’d expect during a footballer’s injury rehabilitation.

Ugarte has discussed Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” with Gutiérrez. Gabriel García Márquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude” are also on their list.

Gutiérrez was clearly impressed by his reading choices. He described them as “not the reading choices of just any player” and called the Manchester United midfielder “an extraordinary player, on and off the pitch”.

Looking beyond football

For Manchester United, the priority will obviously be getting Ugarte physically ready to play again of course. The midfielder’s comments give an interesting insight into everything else involved in recovering from such a major injury.

He believes the psychological side has a direct effect on what eventually happens on the pitch.

“It’s a huge help. Behind an athlete there’s a person,” Ugarte said. “How you perform, work and act in sport is directly related to your personal life, so it’s something important and I’m very happy to continue working with him.”

There’s no new return date provided here, so Manchester United supporters don’t get an update on when they can expect Ugarte back.

What they do get is a glimpse at how he’s approaching a difficult spell away from football. And it turns out literature is playing its own small part in his Manchester United comeback.