The player "will decide soon" whether to join Chelsea. Blues prepared to pay; negotiations ongoing.
Chelsea attempted to get a midfielder from a Lisbon team for a significant portion of the winter transfer window, and it looks that they are doing the same now.
After failing in their attempts to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica, the team that just won the Portuguese championship last night, they are now attempting to sign Manuel Ugarte from Sporting CP.
Chelsea is receiving assistance from Jorge Mendes, much like Enzo did. There are other similarities as well. For instance, Sporting won't settle for anything less than the player's release clause.
Similar to Enzo, Chelsea has agreed to pay the money, which is €60 million, but they choose to do so in installments rather than all at once. On that matter, and if a player might be added, discussions are still ongoing.
According to O Jogo's Sunday edition, PSG and Chelsea are the two teams vying for Ugarte's services. Ugarte would choose Chelsea if the situation were normal because he would like to move to the Premier League.
However, it is considered a blow to the Blues' ambitions that they haven't qualified for any European competition, but not a fatal one.
According to O Jogo, Ugarte "will decide soon," so maybe this won't take too long.
