According to respected journalist Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are working hard on signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion this summer.
The London giants were keen on landing the 21-year-old midfielder in January, but their £55 million bid was immediately rejected by Brighton. The Seagulls did not want to lose Caicedo midway through the campaign.
As per Romano, Chelsea are front-runners to sign the South American star this summer. They are working hard to push through a deal. Talks have been taking place for a number of weeks, but nothing is agreed as of now.
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Caicedo was on the radar of Chelsea and Arsenal in January, but the Blues have received a huge boost today. Arsenal have pulled out of the pursuit of the Ecuadorian to concentrate on the record transfer of Declan Rice.
Manchester United have also been linked with the £70 million star in recent months, but they have yet to enter into negotiations with Brighton. They seem unlikely to spend big on him with the ongoing takeover saga.
This has put Chelsea in the driving seat to sign Caicedo. The Ecuadorian would be a fantastic purchase for Chelsea and his arrival could allow manager Mauricio Pochettino to play Enzo Fernandez in a creative role.
Fernandez joined the club from Benfica in January for a club-record fee. The Argentine was impressive with his decision-making from midfield, but was restricted to playing from the defensive midfield position.
Caicedo’s arrival would provide Fernandez with more freedom to press forward. Chelsea have yet to finalise a transfer fee with Brighton, but they should be optimistic of getting a deal over the line soon.
After missing out on Manuel Ugarte to Paris Saint-Germain, Caicedo is probably the best alternative. He is brilliant with his distribution and also likes to make crunch tackles and win duels from the centre of the park.
His work rate is another big plus for Chelsea, and he could be a like-for-like replacement for the departing N’Golo Kante.
