Chelsea want Moises Caicedo from Brighton, but they won’t be getting the Ecuador international from the Seagulls without paying significantly more than £70m.
It’s a monster fee for a player who looked really good, but has just one season of regular Premier League play under his belt.
So how can they ask so much for him? And why do we know they won’t accept less than £70m specifically? Well, because according to multiple reports (including this one today from the Telegraph), they turned down that amount for the midfielder in January from Arsenal.
If it wasn’t enough to persuade them then, you can conclude it certainly won’t be enough now. Their bargaining position has only strengthened since then. Caicedo continued his excellent form and continued to build the body of evidence that he’s worth serious money. Meanwhile Brighton secured Europa League football and another chunk of cash in the process, making them even less inclined to sell at anything below a monster fee.
There’s also just so much interest – the piece mentions Liverpool in addition to Chelsea and Arsenal. That inevitably drives up the price.
Ultimately they are still a “selling club” and if the chance to move to a top side comes up, you can expect some pressure from Caicedo’s end. But the amount it will take to make it happen is only going up.
