Fabrizio Romano has shared why Chelsea are feeling “cautious” about a deal to sign Manuel Ugarte from Sporting CP.
According to ESPN and a number of outlets in Portugal, a deal for Chelsea to sign the Uruguay international is as good as done.
Ugarte is set to have a medical at Chelsea next week, although the Blues are wary about getting ahead of themselves.
What’s the story?
Well, Romano believes Chelsea are acting with care over how they handle the Ugarte deal after the Enzo Fernandez saga in January.
Chelsea were described as “disrespectful” by Benfica boss Roger Schmidt, who accused the Blues of trying to haggle over the price after initially agreeing to pay his release clause.
The German was quoted by ESPN as saying: “What the club is doing, who wants to buy Enzo, is disrespectful against all of us, against Benfica and I cannot accept what they are doing.
“To make the player crazy and then to pretend they can pay the clause and later they want to negotiate, I think this is not what I understand about a good relationship between clubs who maybe want to discuss about the player.”
Eventually, Chelsea signed Fernandez for £106.8m – however, in doing so, the Blues made an enemy of Benfica as relations between the two sides were harmed.
Todd Boehly clearly doesn’t want to burn any more bridges with a Portuguese giant, given the volume of Premier League ready talent emerging from these clubs nowadays.
Therefore – while a deal for Ugarte seems very close – Chelsea will not be counting their chickens just yet.
How much Ugarte will cost Chelsea
In the context of modern day football, Ugarte will not actually cost Chelsea too much, given his status as one of the most exciting midfielders across Europe.
A story from Record in Portugal claims that the Blues will pay £52m for the South American – the value of his release clause.
In terms of salary, Ugarte also won’t be a bank-breaking acquisition.
According to another Portuguese news outlet in O Jogo, Chelsea will pay the 22-year-old a sum of €3m-a-year, which equates to roughly £50,000-a-week.
Be sure to keep an eye on this deal, as the signing of Ugarte could be officially announced next week.
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