Manuel Ugarte had played a couple of really impressive seasons for Sporting CP, and was primed for a big move this summer.
For a long time Chelsea looked like favourites, and we were convinced he was the chosen man to upgrade us in the middle.
But in the end he went to PSG for £52m, and we ended up signing Moises Caicedo right at the end of the window. In a recent interview for a lot more, Ugarte has basically thanked his lucky stars that he went to Paris and not London.
He doesn’t name Chelsea specifically, but it’s clearly what he has in mind, given we were the favourites to sign him for a long time until Paris made their move.
“I am 100% convinced that coming here was the best choice,” he admitted in quotes picked up by Canal Supporters.
“Paris Saint-Germain for me is something incredible. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am here because before coming I did not imagine the scale of this club, its worldwide fame, its supporters… I am enjoying this incredible experience enormously, while focusing on the achievement of our objectives.”
We’re still convinced Caicedo can end up being a better player. But will he end up being twice as good, justifying his transfer fee being twice as big? Probably not. On that front, we’re already looking to have got significantly worse value in our summer transfer dealings.
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