Mauricio Pochettino has inherited a Chelsea side with a dearth of quality midfielders after the West Londoners suffered an exodus this summer, so they’re likely to sign at least one replacement before the transfer window shuts.
Moises Caicedo has been on their radar for some time and James Pearce of The Athletic says they’ll win the race to his signature. The 21-year-old is coming off the back of a fantastic season at Brighton & Hove Albion and Andy Naylor of The Athletic said in June that he will be granted a transfer if his £100m asking price is matched.
Liverpool were looking to hijack the deal as they could lose five midfielders in one transfer window. Naby Keita left to join Werder Bremen, James Milner left to join Brighton and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was released on a free transfer.
Fabinho and Jordan Henderson have been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia too, so Liverpool need replacements as bad as Chelsea. However, The Athletic claims Chelsea are expected to beat Liverpool to Caicedo’s signature duo to his lofty valuation.
Caicedo joined Brighton in 2021 and has made 53 appearances across the board, scoring two goals with three assists. The Ecuadoran international is joint-6th in the Premier League for average tackles per game (2.7) and joint-5th for interceptions (1.5), so Chelsea are buying one of the best ball-winners.
Mason Mount was sold to Manchester United, Mateo Kovacic was sold to Manchester City, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was sold to AC Milan, N’Golo Kanté left to join Ittihad Club on a free transfer and Tiemoué Bakayoko was released on a free transfer, but Chelsea haven’t signed one replacement yet.
Pochettino has Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka and the returning Andrey Santos at his disposal, but a 19-year-old Chukwuemeka is still inexperienced at the top level while a 19-year-old Santos has just finished a loan spell in Brazil. They need more in midfield and Caicedo fits the bill, so he’s deemed to be worth the large outlay.
