Chelsea are expected to beat Manchester United to the signing of Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo this summer, as per CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs.
Chelsea have been strongly linked with a move for Caicedo in recent months as Mauricio Pochettino continues to overhaul the squad he inherited this summer.
Manchester United have also been credited with a serious interest in the South American as Erik ten Hag looks to reinforce his midfield options after an encouraging debut campaign in England.
However, Jacobs claims that Chelsea are the most likely destination and tips the London giants to beat Manchester United to a deal for the 24-year-old this summer.
The Ecuadorian international was targeted by Arsenal in the January window, but Brighton managed to keep hold of him. However, they are expected to cash-in this summer having already sold Alexis MacAllister to Liverpool.
Brighton have a philosophy to nurture young players and sell them for a profit. Caicedo has a long-term deal at the club, and Brighton are in a strong position to command a high transfer fee for him. According to Fabrizio Romano, Caicedo has already agreed to move to Chelsea, while agreeing on personal terms will not be a big issue.
It has been widely suggested that Brighton are demanding a fee of around £100m for Caicedo, but Jacobs says that the Blues are looking to get him for around £80m.
Jacobs told Give Me Sport: “Of course, you’d expect Brighton to try and get the best possible deal. But I understand that Caicedo will be a lot closer to £80m than £100m and Chelsea, not Manchester United, remains the most likely destination at this point.”
United out of the race?
Having missed out on McAllister and Declan Rice, it seems like Man Utd will also miss out on Caicedo. While they are close to signing Mason Mount from Chelsea, Erik ten Hag would have loved to sign a midfield engine like Caicedo.
It will be interesting to see if they make a late attempt to hijack any Chelsea deal, but they have other priorities as well, like signing a new striker.
For Chelsea, adding a new midfielder is a priority. They have offloaded the likes of Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Mount, so Pochettino needs to sign more than one midfielder to replenish the void.
