PSG swoop for Ugarte to boost midfield in €60m deal

PARIS, July 7 — Paris Saint-Germain today completed the signing of Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte from Portuguese club Sporting following the arrivals this week of Milan Skriniar and Marco Asensio.

Ugarte, 22, has signed a five-year deal with the French champions who reportedly paid a transfer fee in the region of €60 million (RM306 million) to ward off interest from Chelsea.

The defensive midfielder began his career with Fenix in Montevideo before moving to Portugal to join Famalicao. He was soon snapped up by Sporting and spent the past two seasons with them.

Ugarte was an unused member of the Uruguay squad at last year’s World Cup.

He is PSG’s third recruit of the summer after Skriniar and Asensio signed on free transfers. France’s 2018 World Cup winnng defender Lucas Hernandez is also expected to arrive as new coach Luis Enrique looks to strengthen his team for next season.

However, there remain ongoing questions about the future of Kylian Mbappe, who said last month that he would not extend his contract, which expires next year.

If there is no change to his stance the club must sell the player in the current transfer window, otherwise they will likely lose him for nothing when his deal ends.