Chelsea admit defeat to PSG in race to sign 22-year-old star

Chelsea have pulled themselves out of Manuel Ugarte race; PSG now in front

Chelsea withdrew from the race to sign Sporting CP’s Manuel Ugarte, as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) remain the current front-runner to land the 22-year-old.

According to Portuguese media sites A Bola and Record, (h/t Metro) Chelsea withdrew from the negotiations to sign him after PSG significantly increased their offer.

Chelsea and the Ligue 1 team were prepared to pay Sporting CP’s asking price of almost €60 million (£52.2 million) for the 22-year-old. That should have been enough, but it wasn’t.

The Ligue 1 Champions, however, gave the midfielder a higher salary than the Blues, despite the fact that West London later upped their offer by including incentives and performance bonuses.

But notice how PSG increased Ugarte’s offer from €5 million (£4.3 million) to €10 million (£8.6 million) per season. Chelsea were tipped to be the favourites to sign the 22-year-old and had the midfielder’s medical ready.

However, now it appears that the youngster could now join PSG, as they remain the only contenders now to sign him. Mauricio Pochettino has asked Chelsea to sign the player, but now it is unlikely, so the Blues will need to find another midfielder.

As a result of their decision to cancel their pursuit of the 22-year-old, they will now attempt to sign Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia.

It is hard to outspend PSG financially because they could go to whatever lengths to sign a player. That seem to be the case with Ugarte, as they look to add fresh legs and quality to their defensive midfield, with Danilo Pereira often being used as a centre-back.

We made the right choice to withdraw from the competition as it isn’t always wise to be drawn into transfer battles and end up paying a premium fee for a player who has frankly yet to prove himself at a very top club.

More Chelsea News:

• Chelsea will need to fork out £40m to secure Brentford star David Raya
• Thiago Silva comments on post claiming Chelsea’s Mason Mount has agreed terms with Manchester United
• “It’s been a tough time”: 26-year-old confirms he won’t be at Chelsea next season

But that should mean we are looking at other targets – nothing else will be acceptable. We are in dire need of adding quality, depth and experience to our midfield. Jorginho left us in January while N’Golo Kante’s future hangs in the balance.

Losing two of our key midfielders in recent seasons so close to each other is no small thing. It is a situation that has to be addressed properly.