'Disasterclass' - Chelsea fans grateful for NOT signing Manuel Ugarte

Cameron Smith

• 7 Nov 2023 21:16 GMT
• 6 min read

Chelsea’s pursuit of Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte ended in disappointment this summer, with the midfielder opting to join Paris Saint-Germain instead.

The Blues looked set to sign the 22-year-old from Sporting CP, but he decided to join PSG, with some reports suggesting the Parisians offered him higher wages than Chelsea.

After failing to land Ugarte, Chelsea decided to invest heavily in three central midfielders following the departures of Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftsu-Cheek.

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Lesley Ugochukwu (€27 million), Romeo Lavia (€62.1m), Moises Caicedo (€116m) all moved to Stamford Bridge during the summer, with Chelsea combatting the Ugarte failure by signing three of the most talented young midfielders in world football.

Ugarte’s decision to join PSG initially resonated poorly amongst the Chelsea fanbase, with many supporters clamouring for him to join the club having been impressed by his performances at Sporting.

However, Blues fans were quick to praise the club’s decision to avoid signing Ugarte following his first-half display against AC Milan at San Siro in the Champions League.

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The Uruguayan was yellow-carded for a foul on Theo Hernandez and struggled to match Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s energy in the middle of the park. Ugarte was dribbled past four times in the first-half and while he managed a 100% pass accuracy, he only completed 10 passes in 45 minutes. He also only won three of his 13 attempted ground duels.

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