The agent of Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo has indicated for the first time that the British transfer record signing might have had some regrets about turning down Liverpool for the Blues. Both clubs battled fiercely for the Ecuadorian’s signature as Brighton welcomed a bidding war in the final weeks of the transfer window, before Caicedo decided to join Mauricio Pochettino’s revolution at Stamford Bridge.
In doing so, the 21-year-old became the most expensive player in British football history at a mind-boggling £115million, with Chelsea smashing the record for a second time in nine months after signing Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in January for £107m.
Chelsea only stepped up their efforts to sign Caicedo when it emerged Liverpool were willing to pay £100m to get the deal done after selling Fabinho and Jordan Henderson. And the player’s agent, Manuel Sierra, has admitted that both he and his client found it difficult to resist the Reds.
“When Liverpool came and approached in that way, obviously Moises gets dizzy, I get dizzy myself,” he said in an interview with YouTube channel Futbol sin Cassette. “But Chelsea were by our side at all times asking us to go. They wanted an hour so that we could tell Brighton, so that they could match the offer and they gave them an hour and it ended in two days of negotiation.”
Sierra elaborated on how Klopp had personally called him to make them aware of his plans: “It is very complicated, imagine that Jurgen Klopp is writing to you, that Liverpool is calling you,” he added.
“We are talking about something very big, that is, one of the best teams in the world, just like Chelsea, and with a more established and more stabilised project than what Chelsea have today, which is a very ambitious project with a view to two, three years ahead.”
Liverpool swiftly moved on from missing out on his signature by wrapping up quick deals for Wataru Endu from Stuttgart for £16m, while Ryan Gravenberch was a late arrival from Bayern Munich for around £34.7m. Both players have been used in rotational roles so far, while Caicedo has been a first-team regular. But it seems Jurgen Klopp may not have missed much by losing out in that particular bidding war.
Caicedo has not enjoyed the easiest starts to life in west London, making an error that led to a winning goal for Nottingham Forest on his debut and conceding a penalty in the 3-1 defeat to West Ham.
Chelsea have only won two of their opening seven games this season and remain in the bottom half, while Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham was their first of the campaign after a bright start under Klopp with his new midfield trio.
That said, the tireless midfielder is starting to show signs of adapting to his new surroundings after spending two and a half years on the South Coast with Brighton. He was plucked from Ecuadorian outfit Independiente del Valle for just £4.5m in February 2021, with the Seagulls making a huge profit on his sale.
