AGENT SAYS £116M STAR NEVER WANTED TO JOIN LIVERPOOL EVEN AFTER HUGE REDS BID

The agent who brokered Moises Caicedo’s Premier League record move to Chelsea insists that the former Brighton and Hove Albion star was never tempted by Liverpool’s rival offer. 

When the news filtered through in mid-August – Sky Sports reporting that Liverpool had submitted a staggering £111 million bid for Moises Caicedo – Jurgen Klopp found himself facing some rather awkward questions.

The footballing world, Klopp argued, had altered quite a bit since 2016, when the motor-mouthed manager insisted that he would never look to bring in a player for a nine-figure fee in response to Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba.

“Everything changed,” Klopp sighed, seven years on. “Do I like it? No. Did I realise I was wrong? Yes. That’s the way it goes.

“In the end, we have to try and make sure we get the best possible team together.”

Moises Caicedo chose Chelsea over Liverpool

With four wins from their first five games of the new campaign, missing out to Chelsea for Caicedo’s signature is not yet proving to be the disaster some framed it as at the time – even if Klopp could still do with a natural ‘number six’ in his ranks.

But, having hit similar obstacles in their pursuit of Sofyan Amrabat, Mason Mount and Romeo Lavia (now Caicedo’s team-mate at Stamford Bridge), this was a summer which raised serious concerns about Liverpool’s pulling power in the market.

“The boy only wanted Chelsea,” Andrea Pellegatti of the EPIC Sports Agency tells Sport Italia.

“(Chelsea) had started to show their interest consistently since January.”

Paul Barber, Brighton’s much-admired CEO, confirmed following the confirmation of Caicedo’s exit that the Ecuadorian – ‘for whatever reason’ – opted to reject the chance to become Liverpool’s all-time record signing.