Chelsea could make a last gasp bid to hijack Liverpool’s deal for Moises Caicedo after the Reds agreed a British record £110m deal with Brighton late last night, according to the Guardian.
The West Londoners have been chasing Caicedo all summer and have seen multiple bids turned down by Brighton with the Seagulls standing firm on their £100m+ valuation.
It looked like Chelsea were edging closer to reaching an agreement and Caicedo was in London with his agent on Thursday so he could quickly wrap-up a move to Stamford Bridge if a deal was agreed between the two clubs.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea finally put £100m on the table late on Thursday night but in a sensational twist, Liverpool gazumped them by submitting a higher £110m offer.
The report says Brighton accepted Liverpool’s bid and Caicedo is pencilled in to undergo his medical in Merseyside this afternoon with personal terms understood to be a formality.
However, there could yet be another stunning twist in this saga, as the Guardian claims that sources have said Chelsea could make a last gasp bid to hijack Liverpool’s deal by submitting another offer worth over £110m.
Late hijack
The newspaper says Chelsea’s hierarchy have been confident all summer that the club would sign Caicedo and they may not have given up just yet, despite Liverpool’s late interest in the South American.
Mauricio Pochettino desperately needs to strengthen his midfield after seeing several players leave this summer. The likes of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount have all been sold so reinforcements are needed.
Caicedo has been Chelsea’s top target all summer and it would be a huge blow if they were to miss out to Liverpool.
However, Jurgen Klopp is also in desperate need of another midfielder after seeing Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and James Milner all leave this summer and it seems he’s set his sights on Caicedo.
It’s going to be fascinating to see who comes out top in the race to sign the Ecuadorian international. And the two clubs are also fighting it out over a deal for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia. Chelsea’s latest offer was worth £48m including add-ons – just shy of Southampton’s £50m asking price.
If Liverpool sign Caicedo then it will probably end their interest in Lavia, so it would pave the way for the Belgian youngster to head to Chelsea.
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