Chelsea have been informed they will need to pay at least £100m to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo this summer, according to The Telegraph.
Caicedo has become one of the most in-demand midfielders in the Premier League following some superb performances for Brighton and Chelsea have emerged as the front-runners for his signature.
The newspaper claims that the South American won’t come cheap for the Blues as Brighton believe he’s worth the same price as Declan Rice, who is close to joining Arsenal in a deal worth £100m plus £5m add-ons.
Chelsea are in the market to bolster their midfield following the exit of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The West Londoners had two offers rejected by Brighton for Caicedo in January as Roberto De Zerbi’s side did not want to lose him in the middle of the season
The highly-rated midfielder signed a new deal in March but he is expected to leave the Amex Stadium this summer. Boss De Zerbi hinted at the end of last season that Caicedo could depart and might have played his game for the club.
Brighton have already signed midfielders James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud with the latter said to be the Ecuador international’s replacement.
Another big deal
Chelsea sealed a British record £107m transfer fee for Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez in the winter transfer window and would need to offer an amount close to that fee to complete a move for Caicedo this summer.
The Blues have a good working relationship with Brighton following the signing of Marc Cucurella last summer as well as their manager Graham Potter, who was later sacked by Chelsea due to poor run of results.
Chelsea would like to capitalise on this relationship to strike a deal with Brighton for the Ecuadorian midfielder. Caicedo is rated as one of the best young midfielders in the Premier League, featuring in 43 games and making two goal contributions across all competitions last term.
He impressed in the middle of the park alongside his former teammate Mac Allister as they both played a crucial role in helping the club qualify for next season’s UEFA Europa League for the first time in their history.
Pre-season has already commenced and Mauricio Pochettino could push to get his man this summer as he reshapes the squad ahead of next season.
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