Chelsea have reportedly broken the British transfer record after agreeing to pay $145 million for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.
Per multiple reports Chelsea have agreed to pay Brighton $126 million initially, with the extra $19 million coming in potential add-ons.
With Caicedo looking set to join Chelsea all summer long, Brighton did not budge on their valuation of the 21-year-old midfielder and their asking price even increased in recent days since Liverpool had a $140 million bid for Caicedo accepted last week.
The player is said to have rejected Liverpool’s advances as he only ever wanted a move to Chelsea.
'I want to become a legend at this amazing club.' 💬
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 15, 2023
Our first chat with Moises Caicedo! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/BmhMPiMfBm
Chelsea, Liverpool badly need a holding midfielder
The main thing Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday proved was that they both need a new defensive midfielder. Fast. The game was way too open and both teams looked great going forward but extremely vulnerably defensively and could not control the tempo of the game.
A destructive, smart holding midfielder like Caicedo is a game-changer and it appears Chelsea will be benefitting from his brilliance.
Caicedo is an incredible talent but this is a very expensive deal, even for Todd Boehly and Chelsea’s big-spending American owners.
It is one that Chelsea just couldn’t back out of in the end because they have publicly chased Caicedo for so long. Quite how they can make all of these signings work within the parameters of financial fair play rules is going to be extremely interesting to watch and Mauricio Pochettino may need to trim his squad further.
But they’ve done it and Caicedo playing in a high-pressing Pochettino team alongside Enzo Fernandez is perfect.
