Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Chelsea have now entered the race for Tottenham target Manuel Ugarte at the request of new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Manuel Ugarte appears to be one of the most highly sought-after young players across Europe on the back of his impressive season at Sporting Lisbon.
The midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham over recent months (O Jogo via Sport Witness), with A Bola even revealing last week that the North London club are ready to meet the Uruguayan’s €60m (£52.1m) release clause.
In addition, the likes of Paris Saint-Germain (Santi Aouna), Liverpool (Record) and Aston Villa (A Bola) have also been credited with an interest in the 22-year-old over recent weeks.
(Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Romano has now taken to Twitter to reveal that Ugarte has also emerged as a target for Chelsea ahead of the summer transfer window.
The journalist revealed that Pochettino has ‘approved’ a move for the Sporting star, with the Blues now said to be ‘pushing’ for a deal, having opened talks with the Portuguese club as well as the player’s entourage.
Understand Manuel Ugarte has been approved as target also by Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino 🚨🔵 #CFC
Chelsea are pushing in talks with club and player side, Jorge Mendes’ on it.
🇫🇷 PSG proposal, still valid on the table.
No decision yet, but Chelsea will keep insisting. pic.twitter.com/WEV6KXQkYm
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 29, 2023
Our View
Unsurprisingly, we appear to be competing with the likes of Chelsea and Newcastle for many of the same targets this summer.
That is one of the reasons it is imperative that we appoint a sporting director and a head coach soon.
Otherwise, we risk losing ground to our rivals in the race for the likes of Manuel Ugarte, James Maddison and James Ward-Prowse.
