PSG have left Chelsea fans shocked after they suddenly overtook the Blues in the race to sign Manuel Ugarte from Sporting CP.
A story from ESPN claimed that Chelsea were close to signing the Uruguay international.
Now – however – the Blues have walked away, leaving PSG free to sign the South American.
So, what happened with Manuel Ugarte and Chelsea? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, it was said that Sporting CP were pushing Ugarte to join Chelsea, as the Blues had sent a more attractive offer to the Portuguese giants.
However, Chelsea’s offer to the 22-year-old himself was not as lucrative as what PSG had put on the table.
The Parisians are offering Ugarte €5m-a-year whereas Chelsea only went as high as €3.5m-a-year.
There were claims that PSG suddenly upped their salary offer to €10m-a-year to fend off Chelsea.
Now – however – Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports has cleared the situation up, stating that PSG never actually changed their original offer.
The journalist wrote on Twitter: “PSG sources argue they didn’t budge from their offer, and instead Sporting tried to put pressure on Ugarte to pick Chelsea because that offer’s structure was more preferable to the Portuguese club.”
By the sounds of it, Chelsea have already moved on from Ugarte.
Chelsea begin search for Ugarte alternative
Todd Boehly clearly didn’t put all of his eggs into the Ugarte basket, as Chelsea are now beginning to step up their interest in other midfield targets.
A claim from talkSPORT states that Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia – of Brighton and Southampton respectively – will now be targeted by the Blues.
There is interest in Declan Rice too – however, the Guardian believe a deal for the West Ham No.41 is unlikely to happen this summer.
As you can see, Chelsea aren’t wasting time feeling sorry for themselves after missing out on Ugarte.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
