We keep hearing the same thing on Chelsea’s attempts to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, and that is that Brighton want at least £100m for him.
But Chelsea, even if they do end up matching that, are unlikely to essentially be paying £100m for Caicedo, because of how these deals work with structured payments and add-ons.
Sources: Chelsea now targeting Championship midfielder!
Ben Jacobs explains it superbly in his latest exclusive and extensive Chelsea FC column for SPTC today.
EXCLUSIVE! Moises Caicedo offer about to go in and how structure and add-ons will be key, Adams, Veiga, Lavia, Parades, Olise, and Kudus news, Outgoings latest, and more in the latest @JacobsBen Chelsea column below!https://t.co/V0Ja0Ikq1v pic.twitter.com/DhjyYfUACA
— TheBluesFeed (@TheBluesFeed) August 7, 2023
Speaking about the fee that Chelsea could end up paying, Jacobs says: A new offer, exceeding £80m but perhaps not by £20m, stands a real chance [of being accepted]. And as I have said many times, if Chelsea do go close to, or even north of, £100m, the add-ons won’t be as gettable. As a result, the structure is now as important as the number. £100m means nothing (optics-aside) if £20m is tough to get. And £80-85m guaranteed with strong payment terms is quite a strong bid even if the overall total is lower.”
So Chelsea may end up paying £100m for Caicedo but in reality the base fee will not be that much, and it could only reach that amount if certain bonuses and add-ons are hit, which Chelsea are trying to make as favourable to them as possible.
This really does explain why there has been so much back and forth on this deal so far, with Brighton clearly also trying to favour the terms and the structure of the deal to something that they are happy with, and Chelsea trying to do the same.
Brighton are clearly best of to keep him, he could be worth even more by next year, let Chelsea pay up or go elsewhere,