Record in Portugal are leading the way with their reporting on the chase for Manuel Ugarte, and today they have an interesting update.
Last week, the Portuguese paper claimed that both Chelsea and PSG have offered €60m for the midfielder, matching his release clause. His club Sporting now can’t have any further say in what happens next – it’s down to him to choose.
It’s two tempting options – but at the moment there is a big issue for Chelsea. Record’s update today says that the Uruguay midfielder prefers a move to Chelsea, but that PSG are offering significantly more wages.
It seems that after last summer’s spending, Chelsea’s money men are now tightening the purse strings, and that’s making it difficult to buy players. Who could have predicted that?
It’s not a small disparity either – the article claims that Chelsea have offered just €2m a year to PSG’s €5m a year.
It also adds the interesting detail that incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino is a fan of Ugarte and has called him personally to try and persuade him.
Even Pochettino at his most persuasive is going to struggle convince a player to accept less than half as much money, if those figures are true. The club are going to have to think long and hard about how much they want him, or whether there are more affordable alternatives out there.