According to Sky Sports, Chelsea are expected to make a formal approach to sign Brighton & Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo once a number of outgoings are finalised.
The London giants are currently in the process of securing funds to balance their books before June 30. Kai Havertz, Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly and Mateo Kovacic are among players that could leave the club in the next seven days.
Mason Mount could follow the same route with interest from Manchester United. It is now reported by Sky Sports that Chelsea will enter talks with Brighton for Caicedo after the current selling spree.
Top-class
Chelsea made an offer of £55 million to sign Caicedo in January, but Brighton refused to consider the proposal. The club were clear that they did not want to lose the midfielder midway through the season.
However, the Seagulls are likely to consider his exit in the current transfer window, and it has been reported by Ben Jacobs that Chelsea could secure an agreement for a fee in the region of £80 million.
Caicedo would be a brilliant acquisition for Chelsea due to his excellent defensive skills. The 21-year-old could be seen as a like-for-like replacement for N’Golo Kante, who recently joined Al-Ittihad.
Kante was splendid during his seven-year spell with Chelsea. He impressed with his tireless work rate, ability to make strong challenges and start counter-attacks with key passes from deep positions.
Caicedo has a familiar playing style to the Frenchman, and would be a perfect foil for Enzo Fernandez. The Argentine played in a defensive role after his surprise January move for Benfica.
The World Cup winner could be given more positional freedom if Chelsea were to sign Caicedo. Fernandez likes to operate as a box-to-box midfielder. His full potential could be unleashed next season.
Chelsea look to be leading the race to land Caicedo from Brighton, but Arsenal could offer fierce competition for his signature if Manchester City beat them to the signing of West Ham’s Declan Rice.
