The chase for Moises Caicedo is on, and Chelsea are just now starting to learn what a mammoth effort it’s going to be to sign him.
The first problem is the competition – multiple Premier League sides plus Bayern Munich have been linked, and all seem genuinely keen to sign the midfielder.
Brighton are also in a strong position. They have the player on a long contract and have no pressing need to sell – mainly thanks to the mega money they got off Chelsea a year ago.
All of this adds up to mean that they can ask almost what they like for Caicedo – and according to Andy Nayor, the Athletic’s Brighton correspondent – they will ask for £100m. We’re about to see Declan Rice go for that sort of money, and the Seagulls are convinced that Ecuador international Caicedo is at least as good – plus 3 years younger.
That would mean the Blues dropping £100m or more on a midfielder in two consecutive windows. Is that really feasible? We guess we’re about to find out. That price isn’t coming down anytime soon, so a lot will depend on the money we get making sales in that same position. If we were to sell Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek for a combined £80m, it wouldn’t seem that steep. But will we get that sort of money given everyone knows we need to sell? Maybe not.
