£52m player admits he made ‘the best choice’ by choosing league champions over Chelsea this summer

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Manuel Ugarte has no regrets over snubbing Chelsea for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Chelsea wanted to bring Manuel Ugarte to Stamford Bridge, with the Evening Standard having reported that the Blues had actually agreed to pay the midfielder’s £52m release clause while he was still at Sporting Lisbon.

In the end, though, Ugarte decided to join PSG and has now told Canal Supporters that he is happy with the decision he has made.

Losing out on the 22-year-old was not the end of the world for Chelsea, as they were still able to strengthen their midfield after bringing in both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.

Ugarte obviously did not cost anywhere near as much as Caicedo, while the Ecuadorian has not been in the best of form since making his move to Stamford Bridge.

Manuel Ugarte has no regrets about joining Paris Saint-Germain over Chelsea

Speaking to Canal Supporters about his decision to join PSG in the summer, Ugarte said: “I am 100% convinced that coming here was the best choice.

“Paris Saint-Germain for me is something incredible. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am here because before coming I did not imagine the scale of this club, its worldwide fame, its supporters… I am enjoying this incredible experience enormously, while focusing on the achievement of our objectives.”

Will Chelsea regret missing out on Manuel Ugarte?

As time goes on, probably not. Ugarte is certainly a good midfielder, someone who is aggressive and can win the ball back.

According to WhoScored, the Uruguayan is making 4.1 tackles per game in Ligue 1 this season, which is the highest average in PSG’s squad. How Chelsea could have done with a footballer like that in their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, which saw their midfield get completely overrun.

However, once Caicedo finds his best form again and Lavia returns from injury, they should be able to do the same job in the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge.

Do that, and there will obviously be no reason for the Blues to dwell on missing out on Ugarte.

And at the end of the day, they clearly did try hard to sign him after agreeing to pay the £52m release clause in his contract at Sporting.