Moises Caicedo is on the verge of joining Chelsea with the Blues set to pay Brighton £115 million ($116m) to sign the midfielder.
Blues set to pay £115m for Caicedo
Will break British transfer record again
Chelsea face Liverpool on Sunday
WHAT HAPPENED? The London side has fought off competition from Liverpool as The Guardian reports and they are set to break the British
transfer record to sign the Ecuador star.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Liverpool had a £110m ($140m) offer accepted by Brighton, but the Blues are determined to get the midfielder they have
been chasing all summer. The deal will top the previous record of £107m that Chelsea paid to sign Enzo Fernandez in January.
AND WHAT’S MORE: The Stamford Bridge side is also set to beat Liverpool to the signing of Romeo Lavia from Southampton for a reported £55m ($70m) fee.
WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA? Mauricio Pochettino’s team will take on Liverpool in their first Premier League game of the season on Sunday.
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Liverpool: Klopp can resolve Caicedo blow with Tchouameni
The Real Madrid star could help ease the blow of potentially missing out on Moises Caicedo this summer.
Liverpool have been dragged into a huge transfer saga surrounding Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo over the last 48 hours and
Jurgen Klopp will surely be unimpressed with the ongoing situation.
How much did Liverpool offer for Moises Caicedo?
The Reds agreed a huge record-breaking £111m fee with the Seagulls in the earlier hours of Friday morning, however, it has been reported heavily by
Italian journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano that Caicedo is only interested in signing for Chelsea this summer.
With just over a fortnight left to secure the much-needed reinforcements in midfield before the transfer window closes, the powerbrokers at Anfield
need to quickly identify alternatives to sign instead of the Ecuodorian, which shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve considering there is clearly a healthy
budget available.
Who are Liverpool’s transfer targets?
The Merseyside giants have been linked with a number of midfielders over the summer so far and following the unexpected departures of Jordan
Henderson and Fabinho, the midfield rebuild at Anfield has become an even more desperate for the club.
Like Caicedo, Southampton youth prospect has been heavily linked with both Liverpool and Chelsea over the last few months, however, the Reds
could now be looking further afield to secure the experience and quality they need in the six role this season.
Liverpool have been again linked with a move for Real Madrid star Aurelien Tchouameni, a player who could be the answer to Klopp’s biggest
headache.
In a report by The Telegraph at the end of last month, Chris Bascombe revealed that Liverpool could potentially explore another move for
Tchouameni in their pursuit to strengthen the defensive roles in the centre of the pitch.
It was also reported in June that Liverpool had made a €55m (£47m) bid, however, the offer was short of Real Madrid’s expectations, with Florentino
Perez demanding nothing short of €80m (£69m) to part ways with the midfielder.
There is no doubt that Tchouameni possesses the quality and winning mentality to make an instant impact at Anfield, as well as being the perfect
profile of player to work alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to complete the midfield transformation.
The Frenchman is one of the hottest midfield prospects across the top five European leagues – ranking in the top 15% of his positional peers for pass
completion, clearances, aerial duels won and shots on goal, as per FBref.
Over 33 La Liga appearances last season, the 23-year-old – once hailed as “pure gold” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – registered four assists,
tallied up an impressive 94% pass completion rate, successfully completed 78% of his dribbles and won 66% of his duels combined, as well as
averaging 63.1 touches per game, demonstrating his dominance in the centre of the pitch.
Indeed, Tchouameni previously rejected a move to Anfield when he joined Real Madrid last summer, however, with Jude Bellingham arriving at the
Bernabeu and only 24 starts in the Spanish top-flight last season, there is no reason why Liverpool couldn’t present an attractive prospect for the
player by making him the star man in the six role.
With that being said, it remains to be seen whether the France international would be open to a move to Merseyside this summer, but Klopp is
running out of time to fill the position with a return to Premier League football commencing this weekend against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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