July 17th 2023.
Chelsea are in a difficult position as they attempt to sign midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton. The Ecuador international had agreed personal terms to join the Blues at the end of last season, however, Brighton have set an asking price of £100m for the midfielder.
This leaves Chelsea in an unfortunate situation as they have already lost Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic from their midfield in the last month. With a huge gap to fill, Mauricio Pochettino had expected Caicedo's arrival but their initial bid of £60m has been rejected.
Caicedo is valued at £100m by Brighton and Chelsea's second bid of around £70m plus add-ons will also be turned down. This has led to a fear from Chelsea that they will have to break the bank to sign the midfielder, similar to their £107m acquisition of Enzo Fernandez in January.
The midfielder has attempted to engineer a move to Stamford Bridge as he told Ecuadorian television station TC Television: "It's a big team, that's true. A very historic team which I can't say no [to joining] because it's a very big, historic, beautiful team. The city as well is beautiful. It's got everything beautiful."
Chelsea now face an uphill battle to reach an agreement with Brighton as they hope to add to their midfield this summer. With Arsenal recently signing Declan Rice for a fee of around £105m, the Seagulls are holding out for a similar fee for Caicedo.
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