Chelsea face a worrying wait in their transfer pursuit of Manuel Ugarte after Paris Saint-Germain made a superior salary offer to the Sporting CP midfielder. Chelsea and PSG are both eyeing a summer move for Ugarte to bolster their midfield ranks and although the Blues held the initial advantage, with the Portugal international in favour of a Premier League move, that may no longer be the case.
With each interested party offering to pay his €60million (£51million) release clause through instalments, Portuguese outlet Record reported that the salary proposals from each team will prove decisive. The same website have now added that there is a £2.6million gap between Chelsea's offer and PSG's. They claim the Parisians are offering €5million (£4.3m), while Chelsea are putting forward €2million (£1.7m), with both offers tax free.
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Thankfully for Chelsea, preparations have already been made for potential alternatives, in fact Ugarte was not even deemed as first choice. According to Evening Standard, Declan Rice was the main midfield target for the summer window but Ugarte now appears to be Pochettino's favoured choice.
Rice and Ugarte aren't the only midfielders eyed by the Blues with Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Manu Kone also in their shortlist, with the latter most like Ugarte. The Borussia Monchengladbach holding midfielder has a similar physique to Ugarte and both thrive in a two-man midfield set up where they are deployed as the deepest point.
Like Ugarte, Kone is also 22 and clearly has a bright future in the game with big moves likely to be the next point in the careers of both. With the Frenchman also playing outside of England, it could even mean that Monchengladbach would set a similar asking price, while Caicedo is likely to cost significantly more given his top-flight experience and the fact Brighton turned down £70million for his services in the January transfer window.
Based on their relegation to the Championship, Southampton are unlikely to ask for a fee near that sum for Lavia, but some reservations from Chelsea likely place him at the bottom of the shortlist, despite his relationship with Joe Lewis.
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