Midfielder Chelsea reportedly wanted to sign this summer has now joined PSG

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Manuel Ugarte was heavily linked with Chelsea, so much so that there was talk of agreement over transfer fees and medicals and even the Blues reportedly trying to acquire a minority stake in the selling club, Sporting Lisbon.

But, after months of speculation, French champions Paris Saint-Germain have announced the signing of the Uruguayan midfielder.

In June, The Athletic reported how Chelsea were all set to sign the youngster and were even planning to buy a stake in Sporting Lisbon, but in the end, he has moved to PSG instead.

After protracted negotiations with Sporting, PSG have completed the signing of the highly-rated midfielder, but Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea have missed out, as their attention now turns to Moises Caicedo.

Manuel Ugarte, 22, has moved to the French capital for a fee in the region of £51 million after the French club triggered the release clause in the defensive midfielder’s contract with the Portuguese side.

The fee that PSG have paid for the reported Chelsea target will hurt Todd Boehly and Chelsea as the West London club’s new number one target in that position, Moises Caicedo, has been valued at £100 million by his current club, Brighton.

According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti on Twitter, Chelsea and Brighton are in talks over Caicedo, with the Seagulls holding out for £100 million for the Ecuador international.

Manuel Ugarte would have added the steely edge Chelsea are missing

The frustration remains for Pochettino and Chelsea that they still haven’t replaced N’Golo Kante or Mateo Kovacic. Ugarte would have represented a smart purchase at a reasonable price, but the midfielder chose Paris over London.

His high number of tackles (4.63 per 90), interceptions (2.18 per 90), and blocks (1.65 per 90) make him a proper ball-winning midfielder that Chelsea have been looking for in the absence of Kante, who struggled in his last season with the Blues due to injuries.

For PSG, he will fit in well alongside the current midfield with the likes of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Marco Verratti.

The hope for new PSG head coach Luis Enrique is that the 22-year-old will be the defensive foil that will allow his other midfielders to push up and support the talismanic figure of Kylian Mbappe.