According to reports, Liverpool are making a ‘shock move’ for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, who is currently Chelsea’s top midfield target.
Caicedo has been targeted by some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League this year. He was pursued by Arsenal during the January transfer window but they have since signed Declan Rice.
This has left Chelsea leading the race to sign Caicedo, but Brighton are only willing to let him leave if their £100m asking price is met.
Up to now, Chelsea have only offered £75m plus £5m in add-ons and it has been claimed that Caicedo is planning to ‘ask’ Brighton to lower their asking price so he can finalise his move to Stamford Bridge.
But the Blues may now be forced to pay £100m for Caicedo as it was reported on Wednesday afternoon by The Athletic that ‘Brighton claim they have received a bid, from an as yet unidentified club, that surpasses Chelsea’s most recent offer’.
And if Football Insider are to be believed, ‘Liverpool are the mystery club to have joined Chelsea in the race to sign Caicedo’.
Liverpool have ‘made contact with Brighton to register their interest’ in Caicedo but it ‘remains to be seen’ if they are ‘willing to match’ their asking price for the midfielder.
But this ‘shock move’ sees Liverpool showing a willingness to ‘smash their transfer record’, which currently stands at £75m (paid to Southampton for Virgil van Dijk).
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Liverpool are also showing significant interest in Southampton starlet Romeo Lavia, who is valued at £50m. So the Reds could potentially be trying to copy Man City’s tactic that arguably saw them force Arsenal into paying £105m for Rice this summer.
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how this deal develops in the coming days and Brighton are certainly set to earn a major profit on Caicedo after paying just £5m to sign him in 2021.
Speaking last month, former Premier League forward Stan Collymore urged Liverpool to “break the bank” for Caicedo.
“To replace Fabinho, I think Liverpool should break the bank for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and although it might be a little too soon for him, Aston Villa’s Boubacar Kamara would be an excellent acquisition for Klopp having been exceptional at times last season – although I think Aston Villa won’t be motivated to sell him this summer,” Collymore told Caught Offside.
“If they are looking for a defensive midfielder that will be there for the next four/five years, Caicedo would be my pick. Partnering him with Mac Allister, his former Brighton teammate, would be very good as it was a pairing that produced tremendous results over the past season.
“Either way, Liverpool need to bring in one more player for their midfield. The sales of Fabinho and Henderson could bring in £60m, which will delight the recruitment team at the Merseyside club, and as I said above, the Reds should use that to challenge Chelsea for Caicedo.”
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