Chelsea have informed Sporting Club de Portugal they are willing to pay more than Manuel Ugarte’s release clause to secure his signature.
That’s according to A Bola, who say the midfielder ‘is leaving Sporting’ this summer in exchange for €60m.
The newspaper explains that despite being on the exit ramp at the Portuguese club, Ugarte was called up for the clash with Vizela last night.
Unlike for most of the season, though, he was not a starter in the game and didn’t even warm up to leave the bench in the eventual 2-1 win.
Chelsea, though, have gone one step further in their attempts to convince Sporting, offering the club a player on loan and giving them ‘preference’ on who that may be.
That means they are firmly in the race with their French counterparts, and it will be up to Ugarte to decide where he goes. A transfer is not likely to happen quickly, though, with him and Sporting needing to work things out and ‘bureaucracy’ to overcome before it can be completed.
He will be departing at some point regardless of that and took himself over to the away fans last night in a gesture that was seen as him saying goodbye to the club and their supporters.
Whether his next step is Chelsea or PSG is up to him, but both are willing to pay above and beyond his release clause to secure his signature.
