04 June 2023 , 21:30
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Chelsea are pulling out of a £52million deal to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
Paris Saint-Germain are now set to sign the Uruguay star after a late twist in the deal saw the French giants beat Chelsea. Chelsea and PSG triggered the £52m clause in Ugarte’s contract - and the player was keen on a switch to Stamford Bridge but PSG now look to have won the race.
Sporting are believed have initially informed Ugarte that he will only be sold to Chelsea this summer - but it appears Stamford Bridge chiefs have now performed a U-turn and PSG are favourites to land the player.
It is understood that the Blues initially offered an eight-year contract to Ugarte.
According to FIFA statutes, clubs are only permitted to give players contracts of up to five years, but Chelsea have been routinely handing out far longer deals this season.
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In January, Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk signed for eight-and-a-half years after joining from Shakhtar Donetsk while Benoit Badiashile penned six-and-a-half year deal after joining from Monaco following the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella on seven and six-year deals respectively last summer.
Sporting star Ugarte has attracted plenty of interest this yearThis is a clear strategy of Chelsea’s ownership under Todd Boehly. The club have moved around the restrictions implemented by FIFA as the contracts have been registered with additional years in which the club holds an automatic option to extend. Premier League and European rivals are believed to have expressed their concern on this approach.
The long-term contracts ensure that Chelsea can spread the costs of their outlay for the players over more accounting years, therefore circumventing FFP restrictions. UEFA are planning to introduce a new five-year limit on how long clubs can spread the costs on player transfer fees.
As reported by the Times earlier this year, such contracts may no longer be able to take place in future windows – but transfers that have already been processed will not be impacted.
Ugarte's contract contains a £52million release clause (Getty Images)Chelsea’s new boss Mauricio Pochettino is a major fan of Ugarte and there was an intention to partner him with Enzo Fernandez in midfield. The club are braced for multiple player exits this summer with Mason Mount, Matteo Kovacic and Kai Havertz being wanted by Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid respectively.
Relations between Chelsea and PSG have soured following the breakdown of Hakim Ziyech’s move to the Ligue 1 champions in January at the eleventh hour. So confident were all parties of the move being completed that Ziyech had spent the entirety of the day in the French capital to seal the deal.
The move was not processed as Chelsea did not send the required documents on time to PSG. The development left Ziyech "incandescent" with the situation and he became increasingly desperate to seal the deal late in the day. This included sending text messages to Blues owner Boehly, instructing him to give the move the green light but to no avail.