Boehly intervenes as Chelsea ‘plan’ ultimate Caicedo insult in stunning response to Liverpool

Matt Stead 12 Aug 2023 7:54 PM

Moises Caicedo is wanted by Chelsea and Liverpool

Todd Boehly took over negotiations with Brighton to revive a move for Moises Caicedo, who Chelsea hope to have at Stamford Bridge for the Liverpool game.

Chelsea are yet to officially respond after Liverpool suddenly emerged with a British record £110m bid for Caicedo, who had been widely expected to move to Stamford Bridge this summer.

The Blues had not come close to matching the valuation of that offer in their previous correspondence with Brighton, their highest bid reaching around £80m.

That has left Liverpool’s offer as the only one accepted by Brighton thus far, the Seagulls’ deadline of midnight on Thursday having long since passed.

But the Blues have decided not to rush in and surrender to Brighton’s demands or hijack Liverpool’s own hijack because of an apparent belief that Caicedo wants to join them as a priority.

Moises Caicedo during a pre-match warm-up.

Having taken stock of the situation, Mauricio Pochettino’s side now seem ready to respond.

Fabrizio Romano, who has been the first to report on many details of the negotiations, from which you can draw your own conclusions to do with agents and the like, said on Saturday evening:

‘Chelsea, working on Moises Caicedo deal right now – understand final fee being discussed with Brighton is in excess of £110m.

‘Key hours ahead. Chelsea want Moises at Stamford Bridge tomorrow – plan in their mind since last week.’

Further reports in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail put the fee at £115m, with the 21-year-old expected to sign an eight-year deal with the option of another season after choosing not to entertain the prospect of moving to Liverpool.

The Times claim that ‘Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took over the talks with Brighton’ on Saturday to ‘bring a breakthrough in their pursuit’. Feels like all they did was offer more money because of their own incompetence but alright.

Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports adds that the Ecuador international has ‘been texting several Chelsea players telling them he’s joining’.

It is believed that Caicedo ‘only wants to join Chelsea’ this summer after reaching an agreement on personal terms with the club in May.

Liverpool do not seem to have done their usual due diligence on the deal and have since briefed that they are ‘ready to walk away’ from another player who doesn’t want them, despite showing their hand and offering a fee around £35m higher than their current club record transfer.

Klopp even confirmed that the Reds had struck an agreement with Brighton over Caicedo on Friday, speaking before their Premier League opener with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

“The fee with the club is agreed,” he said. “We will see what that means. We aren’t a club with endless resources and we didn’t expect a couple of things to happen this summer. Then it happened.”

Until Chelsea make a formal British record offer that Brighton accept for Moises Caicedo, not much has significantly changed. As one source put it "more tweets about what they'll do than what they actually have." CFC have known what Liverpool's bid & structure is since Thursday.

— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) August 12, 2023

Pochettino also spoke on the matter, saying: “I never talk about players who don’t belong to us. We are working hard to add more players to the squad and if we have some update to make for you the club will do. We are trying hard but being respectful. It is so important to be very respectful, it is the way I love to work and the way we need to work.

“It’s obvious when you look at the squad and when you compare to last season too many midfielders leave the squad,” he added, admitting the club’s need to find reinforcements in that department.

Brighton, who beat Luton 4-1 in their Premier League opener, with another unearthed gem in Simon Adingra scoring, must be absolutely loving this.

Chelsea Moises Caicedo