Moises Caicedo is set to sign eight-year deal with Chelsea; the midfielder has been given permission by Brighton to undergo a medical on Monday; the Blues will pay £100m for Caicedo, plus £15m in performance-related add-ons; Caicedo turned down a £111m move to Liverpool, reports Dharmesh Sheth of Sky Sports.
The fee means Chelsea will break the British record twice in 2023, following the £107m purchase in January of Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
Brighton had set a deadline on Thursday night for the highest bidder to land Caicedo, whom they had priced at £100m all summer. The Blues had not gone above £80m prior to that deadline, but then accepted the demands of the South Coast club and upped their bid to £100m.
However, that was £11m shy of Liverpool’s bid – with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp confirming on Friday that a deal had been struck with Brighton and it was now in the hands of the player. However, Caicedo has had his heart set on moving to Stamford Bridge – and now that moves now appears set.
Chelsea will now land the player for a British club record £115m deal – £15m more than Brighton’s initial asking price, and £4m more than Liverpool’s bid. It was Stamford Bridge that the player long had his heart set on.
It is believed that the Blues long-standing interest in his signature – whereas Liverpool only entered the bidding process at the eleventh hour – combined with him being situated in London in recent days, messaging key figures that he was on his way to Chelsea, was crucial in the outcome of his future.
Caicedo will be Chelsea’s eighth signing of the summer, following Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Angelo Gabriel, Robert Sanchez and Diego Moreira.
New manager Mauricio Pochettino has been tasked with overhauling the squad and vastly improving on last season’s 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Abdul Rahman Baba and former captain Cesar Azpilicueta have all departed so far this summer.
Chelsea opened their Premier League season with a 1-1 home draw against Liverpool on Sunday.