Midfielder ‘pleased’ to hear of Man Utd hijack for three reasons after agreeing Chelsea personal terms

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·1 June 2023

Midfielder ‘pleased’ to hear of Man Utd hijack for three reasons after agreeing Chelsea personal terms

Premier League side Man Utd are now in the race to sign Chelsea target Manuel Ugarte from Sporting Lisbon this summer, according to reports.

The Red Devils have had a good first season under Erik ten Hag with the Dutchman securing a top-four Premier League finish and a Carabao Cup triumph, while they have a chance of further glory when they take on Man City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

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And now Ten Hag is hopeful that the Man Utd board will back him in the transfer market despite the club’s ongoing takeover process.

Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool have all linked with a move for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Ugarte as they look to add to their squads this summer.

A report on Monday claimed that Chelsea had even agreed personal terms with new boss Mauricio Pochettino giving his approval to the transfer.

However, Portuguese publication A Bola claim today that Man Utd ‘are in the race to sign’ Ugarte and are ‘receptive to paying’ his €60m release clause this summer.

News that Man Utd are interested in his services ‘pleases’ the Uruguay international for three reasons, which A Bola list.

A Bola

‘The first is that you still have the possibility to play in the attractive Premier League; the second is that, even with strong competition in the midfield, he knows that he is a player that pleases the Dutch coach Ten Hag, who sees him as a player of the future; finally, that Manchester United, in addition to being back in the Champions League, is a club that will invest heavily in the summer market to be able to return to discussing titles internally and also in Europe.’

Man Utd, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are now understood to be leading the race to sign the 22-year-old and, because all of them are prepared to pay his release clause, Ugarte will have the ‘decisive word’.

Ugarte’s agent Jorge Chijane claims that he is “almost certain” that the Sporting Lisbon midfielder will leave Portugal in the summer.

“It’s almost certain that he won’t stay,” Chijane told O Jogo. “It’s sure he’ll leave.

“Soon I’ll be in Lisbon. I trust Jorge Mendes, who is the best businessman in the world. In fact, when I told him about Ugarte for the first time, he said to me: ‘Your eyes are my eyes’.”