At one stage this summer it appeared that Chelsea were very close to landing Mauricio Pochettino's first signing. The Blues were happy to activate a transfer clause and even appeared to have come to an agreement over personal terms.
In one dramatic evening Chelsea appeared to move from being confident of completing a deal for Manuel Ugarte to then pulling out of the deal completely as PSG took the driver's seat. football.london understands that up until PSG enhanced their offer for the 22-year-old, the west London side were very confident Ugarte would arrive at Stamford Bridge.
A deal for the midfielder is yet to be official confirmed by the French side however with Sporting CP revealing they will not negotiate until July 1st due to their financial year. Frederico Varandas, chairman of the Board of Directors of Sporting Clube de Portugal made clear he is yet to become PSG player, and that the French side are one of two clubs to have proposed a fee in excess of his release clause.
The chairman appeared to confirm that Ugarte had a change of heart over his future destination however.
Varandas explained: “A great player, with great character and an excellent professional, but he is not a PSG player. He is a Sporting CP player. Today, if you ask me, I would say that he has a 95% chance of leaving for one of the two big European clubs, which have exceeded the value of the termination clause. First opted for one, then switched to the other, which is normal. We said the conditions, which would be the clause and other costs that we understand that the buying club has to assume. It is not clear, but Ugarte is unlikely to stay at Sporting CP. I just cannot confirm whether it will be PSG.”
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Chelsea's attention now appears to be firmly in the direction of Moises Caicedo, where they face competition from Arsenal. The Ecuador international could cost in excess of £80million despite the acceptance from Brighton that he could depart this summer.
The Blues are likely to move for more than just one midfielder in the upcoming window, though, with Romeo Lavia of Southampton also someone on the club's radar. Andrey Santos also appears set to have at least some first team involvment when he returns from his Vasco da Gama loan and had a USA visa approved earlier in the week.
Chelsea will hope to add reinforcements to their midfield with a number of current stars seemingly set to depart the club. Ruben Loftus-Cheek appeared to wave goodbye to supporters on the final day of the season, a move to Saudi Arabia awaits N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic could move to Manchester City while it's understood there is expectation that Conor Gallagher will depart Stamford Bridge this summer. Pochettino will be overlooking what could be a very different team.
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