Chelsea pulling out of the Manuel Ugarte transfer race late into Sunday evening came as quite the shock. For weeks the Blues appeared deep in negotiations to sign the 22-year-old with new manager Mauricio Pochettino even calling him in an attempt to convince Chelsea would be a better move for him than Paris Saint-Germain.
The €60million (£51m) release clause in his Sporting CP contract made initial talks very simple, but with two clubs in the race, personal terms, bonuses and add-ons looked set to be crucial in Ugarte deciding his preferred destination. In the latter two factors, Chelsea held the upper hand, but PSG always put forward the better salary proposal and that is ultimately where this transfer saga has been decided.
According to Record in Portugal, €5million (£4.3m) was PSG's first offer to Ugarte while Chelsea were willing to part ways with €2million (£1.7m) to agree on a contract. Despite the gap, the Parisians were still playing second fiddle to Chelsea - that was until they doubled their proposal to Ugarte which caught Chelsea completely off guard.
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However, rather than saying they will match or exceed PSG's offer, Chelsea made the sensible decision to leave negotiations. Ugarte is a very good midfielder and would have been a great addition to the Blues, but significantly overpaying for a player to purely make a statement in the market is not a smart strategy and it looks as though Todd Boehly and co. have learnt that.
Had this exact situation occurred 12 months ago or in the January transfer window, we could be looking at an entirely different scenario. Last summer Manchester City were told the price tag for Brighton's Marc Cucurella and subsequently chose to walk away from the deal, but then Chelsea swooped in paid a £63million package for the Spaniard and got the move wrapped up in days.
With it being just his second season in the Premier League, it's fair to say Cucurella has endured a challenging first campaign at Stamford Bridge. The £70million transfer of Wesley Fofana was also quite rushed towards the end of the summer window and the January period was also a hectic time for the Blues following a plethora of injuries.
The biggest shock of them all came in regard to Mykhailo Mudryk. Arsenal had done all the groundwork and seemed to finally be getting somewhere in negotiations and then Chelsea arrived on the scene, agreed personal terms, paid Shakhtar's demands and had Mudryk on a private jet back to west London all within a few hours.
Just like that, £62million gone up front, with a further £26million available in add-ons - an £88million package deal completed as if it was nothing. There were attacking injuries but paying that amount of money is quite ludicrous and in hindsight, it has thus far proven to be a poor decision.
Clearly, Mudryk is a very talented player but his game is still raw and he needs to learn a lot, but at that price you need to have a rather immediate impact. Nonetheless, under Pochettino it is very plausible that he develops his game and can turn into an excellent buy.
However, given the £151million investment in those two players, they have not had the desired affect and that may have come into Chelsea's thinking when they were hit with the news of PSG's offer. When entering negotiations It is crucial to have a limit and it appears Chelsea's was comfortably hit and thus, regardless of their desire to sign a specific player, chose to pull out of the race and focus on other targets.
Brighton's Moises Caicedo is an alternative midfield option and football.london understands it is expected Chelsea will push for a move to sign him in the upcoming summer transfer window. The Seagulls will have their demands clear and therefore it is important Chelsea must enter talks with a suitable opening offer that can be negotiated and a maximum limit they are willing to reach in discussions over a fee if Caicedo wants the move.
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