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The Ben Jacobs Chelsea FC column!

It’s never dull at Chelsea that’s for sure. On Sunday night the club pulled out of the race for Manuel Ugarte despite optimism over the past week that they could sign the Sporting midfielder. It’s a complicated saga, so please bear with me as I try to shed some light...

The Chelsea perspective is clear. They argue Ugarte wanted to join and were prepared to meet the €60m release clause, or at least match it in valuation with a different structure. However, Chelsea’s personal terms to Ugarte were less than PSG offered. And the club saw no market value in going any higher so pulled out.

However, here is where things get a little complicated. PSG firmly deny they made any new offer on Sunday to Ugarte and dismiss the notion Ugarte's salary is €10m. This is termed "nonsense” by multiple sources. 

PSG’s offer to Ugarte has always been higher than Chelsea’s (this is an important point), and the French champions maintain they did not need to increase it.