Chelsea beat Liverpool to sign Bellingham-esque ‘explosive cocktail’ as £116m star earns wage hike

Lewis Oldham 27 Sep 2023 4:30 PM

Chelsea star Caicedo — Chelsea defender Levi Colwill embraces Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea new signing Moises Caicedo has been likened to N’Golo Kante and Jude Bellingham following his £116m move to Stamford Bridge.

Caicedo was one of Chelsea’s marquee signings during the summer transfer window.

The Ecuador international was pursued by Arsenal during this year’s January transfer window but they ended up signing Jorginho as a cheaper alternative before turning their attention to England standout Declan Rice.

This left Chelsea leading the race to sign Caicedo, but Liverpool attempted to hijack their move for the defensive midfielder earlier this summer.

Liverpool agreed to a £100m+ fee with Brighton to sign Caicedo but the 21-year-old made it clear that he only wanted Chelsea and they ended up acquiring him in a deal worth around £116m.

One of Caicedo’s representatives – Ali Barat – has been full of praise for Caicedo, who is a “mix between Kante and Bellingham”.

“I believe that Chelsea have made a great investment, in every sense,” Barat told tuttosport.

“Moises signed a five-year contract until 30th June 2028, and has gone from a salary of £60,000 a week to the current one of £150,000.

“(Caicedo is) a mix between Kante and Bellingham. (He has) the Frenchman’s speed and the Englishman’s technique. An explosive cocktail.”

Earlier this month, Andrea Pellegatti (another representative of Caicedo) claimed the midfielder “only wanted Chelsea”.

“£116million, equivalent to €133million. The amount paid is no accident,” he said. “It was finalised in the last few hours, but the boy only wanted Chelsea, who had started to express their interest in a consistent manner since January.”

Caicedo comes up against his former club on Wednesday night as Chelsea host Brighton in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Ahead of this tie, Seagulls boss Robert De Zerbi suggested that he is “looking forward” to catching up with Caicedo and ex-Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

“I am looking forward to seeing them and always happy to meet my former players,” De Zerbi told reporters.

“Now they don’t play with us, but I will hug them with pleasure.”

He added: “We have big respect for Pochettino and Chelsea. They have a great squad, but I don’t know about the problems they have.

“For us, it will be a very tough game. We have to think about ourselves, to organise and play better than we did in the last game and to have a clear idea, because in the first half (against Bournemouth) it was not very clear.”

Chelsea Moises Caicedo