According to Sport Italia journalist Rudy Galetti, Chelsea face a decisive week ahead as they look to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The London giants have identified the 21-year-old as their top midfield target, and talks are ongoing with Brighton over the fee. Brighton are clear that they want £100 million for the Ecuadorian, but Chelsea are reluctant to pay over £90 million for him.
Galetti claims that this week could be ‘decisive’ for the Blues. Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is pushing to have the South American star in the squad for pre-season.
Quality player
Chelsea are prioritising a holding midfielder after deciding against a new contract for midfielder N’Golo Kante. The Frenchman had a vastly injury-plagued campaign last season, and it was the right choice to release him after his deal expired.
The Blues have earmarked Caicedo as the main target after missing out on Manuel Ugarte to Paris Saint-Germain, but they have work to do to convince Brighton over a transfer.
The youngster has already agreed personal terms over the move, but there remain differences over the valuation that needs to be sorted for Caicedo to join Chelsea in the near future.
As per Galetti, there is currently a £10 million gap between the clubs, and it remains to be seen whether a middle ground can be reached during a fresh round of negotiations.
Caicedo would be a quality signing for Chelsea. He has established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League within a very short space of time.
The Ecuadorian has impressed with his high work rate, strong tackling skills and ability to win regular ground duels. His playing style is quite similar to Kante from his prime years.
Caicedo has had the odd lapse in concentration, but he has the attributes to become a world-class midfielder with age on his side.
Chelsea could form a strong core of quality young midfielders in their squad. They already have the highly-rated Enzo Fernandez while Andrey Santos also has plenty of potential.
