According to respected journalist Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea will make an improved offer to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo this week.
The London giants have been locked in negotiations for the Ecuadorian star, but they are yet to convince Brighton into a deal. Romano has now revealed that Chelsea will improve their bid for the 21-year-old.
The club will propose to pay more than £70 million as a fixed fee. They hope to get the deal done this week.
Top target
Chelsea were initially interested in landing Caicedo during the January transfer window, but their £55 million bid was turned down by Brighton, who had no plans of selling him midway through the season.
The South Coast club are now willing to listen to offers of £100 million for their player, but Chelsea remain hopeful of lowering the fee with no other teams in the running to sign the highly-rated midfielder.
Arsenal were hot on the trail of the Ecuadorian in January, but they recently signed Declan Rice in a club-record transfer. The Gunners spent £105m for him, and are now unlikely to spend big on Caicedo.
Caicedo has already agreed personal terms with Chelsea, and the club will be hoping to sign their top target by this week such that he is involved in the club’s upcoming pre-season tour of the United States.
The 21-year-old would be a fantastic acquisition for Chelsea, and could be their successor to N’Golo Kante in midfield.
Enzo Fernandez played in the no.6 role regularly after his winter arrival, but the Argentine is more of a creative player. He should get more freedom on the pitch once the club sign a specialist holding midfielder.
Caicedo would be perfect alongside the ex-Benfica man. He is strong with his tackles and likes to win regular duels. The youngster is also brilliant with his passing and could lead counter-attacks with quality long balls.
