Mauricio Pochettino has contacted Manuel Ugarte in a bid to convince the Sporting CP midfielder to move to Stamford Bridge this summer amid Manchester United and PSG interest.
Chelsea have set their sights on winning the race for sought-after Sporting CP destroyer Manuel Ugarte and are trying to strike a deal as soon as possible in light of ever-increasing outside interest in his services. That’s according to Football Insider, who report that Mauricio Pochettino has attempted to persuade Ugarte to head to west London by holding a phone conversation.
The West London side have had a season to forget, having finished 12th in the table with just 44 points. Failing to even reach the 50-point mark is a marker of the scale of the task ahead this summer, and they have already set the wheels into motion.
Indeed, Pochettino has finally been announced as their new manager, and the Argentine is likely to have some huge decisions to make on who will make his squad for the new campaign. The Argentine looks to thin out his roster and put his time into the players he actually wants and trusts.
However, this is not to say Chelsea will not be looking to bring in some new players, with Uruguayan midfielder Manuel Ugarte believed to be high on their radar.
Midfield is by no means an area where Chelsea are short in numbers, considering they added the £106.8 million Enzo Fernandez in the January window. However, if the likes of Conor Gallagher, N’Golo Kante, and Mateo Kovacic are to move on over the summer, then perhaps this is a department that has to be addressed.
Regarded as one of the best young holding midfielders, the Uruguay international has been terrific for Sporting over the past year or so, making a total of 47 club appearances this season. He has averaged 3.9 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per Liga Bwin appearance in the 2022/23 campaign. The 22-year-old has also been stellar with his distribution, completing 92 percent of his passes.
Needless to say, he has been touted to pursue a bigger challenge elsewhere during the upcoming transfer window. Chelsea are currently battling it out with Paris Saint-Germain for the Uruguay international, with both clubs ready to meet the Sporting midfielder’s €60 million release clause.
Ugarte’s preference is to join Chelsea and play in the Premier League. In fact, he has already verbally accepted terms on a long-term deal with the Blues. But the 22-year-old has received a significantly better offer from PSG.
PSG, meanwhile, have another advantage over Chelsea as they are willing to pay Ugarte’s buy-out clause up front, while the Blues reportedly prefer to agree to a structured deal. Premier League rivals Manchester United have now entered the fray, and are seeking to steal Ugarte from under the noses of Chelsea as they look to bring in cover for Casemiro.
As a result, it is understood that Chelsea have upped the ante in their pursuit as they look to fight off the stiff competition. And it’s claimed that new Chelsea manager Pochettino has himself spoken to his priority midfield target to help accelerate the club’s push. It remains to be seen whether the former Spurs manager’s intervention will be enough for Chelsea to get a deal over the line for Ugarte or not.
