On Saturday we covered claims from Record that Manuel Ugarte was set to sign for Chelsea. He’d chosen the Blues over PSG, despite a better salary offer from the French club.
The gist was that PSG had initially offered €5m a year, with Chelsea going in at €2m. The London side then returned with €3.5m and potential bonuses, and Ugarte was said to have chosen based on his desire to feature in the Premier League.
On Sunday morning, L’Equipe insisted PSG still had a chance, although it was conceded that Chelsea had the advantage.
Then… transfer chaos.
Monday’s edition of L’Equipe covers the Sunday claims of Chelsea offering an eight year contract and an investment in Sporting. They have a separate article from Monday morning pushing that aside and saying PSG have won the battle, and Ugarte’s move could be announced today.
Monday’s edition of Record appears to get closer to the crux of the situation. The Portuguese newspaper reiterate Ugarte had wanted to join Chelsea and play in the Premier League, however, they say there was an ‘incredible’ turnaround when PSG doubled their salary offer to €10m a year.
It’s worth remembering these salary figures are almost certainly after tax.Ugarte had ‘already given his yes’ to Chelsea, and the Blues were set to pay a little over the player’s €60m clause.
The player’s representatives informed Chelsea of the new PSG offer and that they wanted to think about it. Record say that didn’t go down well with those in charge at Stamford Bridge, hence the club wanting it publicly known they were withdrawing from the race.
So is it all over? Probably, buy maybe not, with Record adding: ‘Today is another day, Londoners are not completely out of the picture – in fact, this setback proved that there are no definitive scenarios in football, far from it.’
The final word will be down to Manuel Ugarte.
Record go on to say ‘everything was ready’ for the player to travel to England. His medical had already been ‘scheduled’, so it could all be sorted quickly to allow him to go on holiday.
Over at Sporting, they’re said to be surprised by all the drama and hope that the next few hours can bring a final answer.
On claims of Chelsea wanting to invest in the Lisbon club, it’s stated that has absolutely nothing to do with Ugarte. Todd Boehly has been looking to invest in a Portuguese club for months, and met Sporting president Frederico Varandas in April, although it’s said there’s anything concrete happening with that right now.
Chelsea’s leaders have also been in contact with other Portuguese clubs.
