Moises Caicedo’s agent Andrea Pellegatti has confirmed that his client was only interested in joining Chelsea this summer despite multiple approaches from Liverpool. The Merseyside club had a bid of £111million accepted by Brighton in August for the Ecuador international, however, Caicedo turned down the offer to enter into negotiations with the Reds.
Multiple reports claimed that Caicedo had already given his blessing to Chelsea after agreeing personal terms with the club earlier in the year and now Pellegatti has confirmed this to be true as well as the official transfer fee that Chelsea paid for him.
“£116 million, equivalent to €133 million euros. The result of long work on the player, who quickly progressed in England after moving to Belgium. With De Zerbi he exploded and then we arrived at Chelsea and Liverpool who they fought over it,” Pellegatti told Sport Italia when asked to clarify the fee Chelsea agreed with Brighton.
“The amount paid is no accident. It was finalised in the last few hours, but the boy only wanted Chelsea, who had started to express their interest in a consistent manner since January.”
Caicedo has had a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge. The 21-year-old has failed to capture the imagination of fans in his four appearances for the Blues so far, while Mauricio Pochettino’s men have only managed one win from their opening five Premier League games this season.
He struggled during his Chelsea debut against West Ham and besides a decent performance in Chelsea’s only win this season against Premier League new boys Luton Town, he hasn’t been able to replicate the type of form he enjoyed with the Seagulls.
After discussions broke down with Caicedo, Liverpool turned their attention to other defensive midfield targets. Initially, they spoke with Romeo Lavia, although he also opted to join Chelsea instead. In the end, they settled for Wataru Endo, who joined Liverpool for £16million from Stuttgart.
They also acquired the services of Ryan Gravenberch on deadline day from Bayern Munich for £34.7million. The Dutchman can play in multiple positions across the centre of the park including as a holding midfielder.
