One of the agents representing Liverpool target Manuel Ugarte has spoken out about the Sporting Lisbon midfielder’s future.

The Reds have been heavily linked with the Uruguayan international in recent days and asked directly about the Merseyside club’s interest, Jorge Chijane replied:

“Liverpool? There is a lot of talk, but it is not the only club, there are others. There is much talk, but I am still not sure about the club. There are many possibilities on the table.”

In terms of the other teams interested in Ugarte, the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle are all believed to be keeping tabs on the player, so Liverpool could have a lot of competition for his signature.

Chijane will join fellow agent Jorge Mendes to discuss Ugarte’s future with Sporting’s hierarchy in the next few days and, asked about the possibility of the 22-year-old leaving Portugal, Chijane said it was very likely:

“It’s almost certain that he won’t stay, it’s sure he’ll leave. I believe that in 15 days the situation will be resolved. Soon I’ll be in Lisbon. I trust Jorge Mendes, who is the best agent in the world. In fact, when I told him about Ugarte for the first time, he said to me: ‘Your eyes are my eyes’.”

What Chijane expects to happen in 15 days’ time, we shall have to wait and see. The Portuguese season ends on May 28th so he may be suggesting that an announcement about Ugarte’s next club could be made after then. The midfielder does have a €60m (£52m) release clause so it may be the case that Liverpool or another team have already said they will trigger it once the campaign is over.