The Blues have backed out of the race to sign Ugarte, who is now expected to join Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

 

Chelsea were prepared to pay his €60m release clause and had also offered him a lucrative contract to move to Stamford Bridge.

 

 

However, PSG offered a deal worth €10m to the midfielder and Chelsea refused to match those figures.

 

There are suggestions in France that Chelsea even promised to invest in Sporting Lisbon during talks with the Portuguese club for Ugarte.

 

 

But Chelsea deny those claims and insisted that they had made no such promises to the Portuguese giants.

 

They wanted to sign Ugarte but ultimately backed out as they did not want to match PSG’s salary offer.

 

 

Chelsea will now look at other targets, with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo believed to be on their radar.

 

The Blues are looking to invest in their midfield as they are expected to lose Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount this summer.