Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea battle over Manuel Ugarte

Paris Saint-Germain expects this week to conclude the transfer of Uruguayan international Manuel Ugarte from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.

Ugarte, 22, is set to complete a move to Paris after the French champions paid the €60m (£51.8m; $64.1m) release clause in the central midfielder’s contract. He got his meds on Monday afternoon.

So, on the face of it, this looks like a straightforward transaction. However, that deal hung in the balance over the weekend as Chelsea of ​​the Premier League battled fiercely for Ugarte’s signature. Relations between the three clubs involved appeared to waver on Sunday.

It began with a report by the French newspaper L’Equipe, quickly picked up by others, which claimed that Chelsea, who had also met the player’s release clause, had also offered to take care of the extra costs involved in the transfer. The same report also stated that Chelsea had discussed the possibility of not only acquiring Ugarte but also acquiring a minority stake in Sporting, who finished fourth in the Portuguese league this season.

Sporting and Chelsea both declined to comment. Sources close to the process – like others in this article who wished to remain anonymous to protect relations – between Sporting and Chelsea denied that the West London club wanted to buy a stake in the Lisbon side as part of any transfer or that any discussions were as part of a potential deal for Ugarty. They insisted the process was as simple as two clubs – Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain – triggering the release clause and allowing the player in question to make up their own mind about where to go.

However, PSG were sufficiently alarmed by media reports on Sunday night that the club had drafted a legal letter they intended to send to Sporting.

This draft, I have seen the athlete, cites media coverage and says PSG believe they have a deal in place for both Sporting and the player. He also expressed concern that Sporting might have approved Ugarte’s move to Chelsea, and went on to inquire about the possibility that “this transfer could be conditional on a minority stake in Sporting CP from Chelsea”.

According to sources at Paris Saint-Germain, the French club have become convinced that Sporting are encouraging Ugarte to join Chelsea.

PSG’s draft letter outlined their concerns about the “fairness” of a proposed move to Chelsea, citing first and foremost the challenges it would pose in club competitions run by UEFA, European football’s governing body.

UEFA regulations state that clubs cannot hold shares or management control of another team that participates in any of its three competitions – the Champions League, Europa League and Europa League.

Chelsea did not qualify for any UEFA competition next season after finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League, while Sporting’s fourth-place finish in Portugal means they will play in the 2023-24 Europa League. However, it is likely that the two clubs, as regular players at European level, will be at some point in the near future in the same tournament.

PSG’s letter stated that when participating in UEFA competitions, “the holding or dealing in shares or securities of one club by another club is prohibited”.

The letter further pledged to “take all necessary and organizational steps” to guarantee the interests of PSG and Ugarte, before asking Sporting to provide a comprehensive explanation of any investment made by Chelsea, as a club, or anyone in the ownership group. associated with the Premier League. The letter ended with a warning that the matter would be escalated to UEFA if Sporting failed to provide a satisfactory response within 24 hours.

L’Equipe’s story landed on their website at 10.13pm on Sunday and within two hours Chelsea had announced to reporters in the UK that they had withdrawn from the race. Club sources indicated that Chelsea had withdrawn because PSG had offered more than they considered the market price for the player and flatly rejected any suggestion that the decision was linked to the L’Equipe report.

With Chelsea pulling out of the deal late Sunday night, PSG didn’t go through with actually sending the letter to Sporting.

In their year under the ownership of Clearlake Capital, Todd Boehly, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss, Chelsea were exploring a multi-club model, where they would be one of a network of clubs, similar to a Red Bull or City Football group.

Chelsea’s ownership group has previously been linked with French clubs Strasbourg and Bordeaux, as well as Portuguese club Portimonense. On Monday, when asked if Chelsea had shown interest in Sporting, sources close to the London club said they were in all sorts of talks about the prospect with a variety of teams.

As for Ugarte, the claim and counterclaim remained until Monday.

Chelsea’s view that Paris Saint-Germain has exceeded the market price on salary, is challenged by sources close to the negotiations, who say that the player’s salary in Paris will be 3.4 million euros per year on a five-year contract, which is less than the offer made by Chelsea on the team. table. However, reports in Portugal claimed that the player’s wages would be closer to €10m a year.

At Paris Saint-Germain, there is the bewilderment that Chelsea, who have spent more than €600m on players since last summer, are now talking about market value, with Ligue 1 club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi among those surprised by the level of spending at Stamford Bridge. Hierarchy. The obvious counter-claim is that PSG has often been accused of inflating the transfer market, most notably when spending a world record €222m to sign Neymar from Barcelona in 2017.

Chelsea’s recent approach to the transfer market has previously caused panic among their European rivals.

UEFA is already planning to implement a five-year maximum period over which a player’s transfer fee can be distributed, after Chelsea signed several players, such as Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mikhailo Modric and Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana, on long-term deals, which allow them to extend It takes up to eight years, in Modric’s case, to repay the £80m cost. The contract offered to Ugarte was also for more than five years.

Relations between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain first soured in January, when the latter sought to sign Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech from the Premier League on loan until the end of the season.

The move collapsed in tragic circumstances on deadline day and PSG swore the blame on Chelsea, due to the English club’s failure to provide the necessary paperwork. Chelsea have disputed allegations that they sent the wrong documents on multiple occasions, instead citing “unforeseen technical difficulties” as the reason why a signed agreement for Ziyech did not appear to arrive until it was too late.

(Top photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)