Chelsea have reportedly made a breakthrough in their bid to complete Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing as manager.
The West London side are keen to bring in new midfielders and have now triggered Manuel Ugarte’s £52m release clause at Sporting, according to reports.
The Uruguayan star is a major target with Pochettino giving the transfer the green light in one of his first huge decisions since becoming the club boss.
Paris Saint-Germain are said to be keen on Ugarte but the 22-year-old wants to play in the Premier League and looks set to move to Stamford Bridge.
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Ugarte has been impressive for Portuguese team Sporting this campaign across 47 appearances and he already has eight caps for Uruguay.
He could soon be joined in London by Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, who is also a key transfer target for Chelsea as Pochettino prepares for the new season.
Brighton have slapped a £80m price tag on Caicedo with Arsenal also linked with the player after he almost moved to the Emirates in January.
Should Chelsea be successful in their move to sign Ugarte and Caicedo, it would cost them £132m as the Blues continue to spend heavily under co-owner Todd Boehly.
The west Londoners have spent more than £600 million since the American replaced Roman Abramovich last summer.
Chelsea are reported to be in danger of a Financial Fair Play breach and are looking to sell a number of stars as part of another squad rebuild.
And Mason Mount has been linked with a move to Manchester United amid a contract issue at his club.
