Moises Caicedo’s agent reveals why midfielder chose Chelsea over Liverpool
Moises Caicedo’s agent Manuel Sierra has revealed why the Ecuadorian midfielder chose to join Chelsea over Liverpool in the summer transfer window. Sierra says that while Liverpool represented a ‘more stable project’, Caicedo had already given his word to Chelsea and was intent on joining them.
The 20-year-old was at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war between the two Premier League giants in the final month of the summer transfer window, with both clubs submitting offers for the Brighton midfielder.
Liverpool had a £110 million bid accepted by Brighton, but Chelsea were given time to submit an improved bid and ended up agreeing a British-record £115m fee with Brighton.
Liverpool’s late offer
Sierra admits that Liverpool’s late offer was difficult to ignore but insists that Caicedo had already given his word to Chelsea and was intent on joining them. He said: ‘Liverpool were always interested. We always had meetings during those months between January and May but since May we never heard from them again and of course we were surprised that suddenly they appeared with something [an offer] that they said that they couldn’t do.’
He added: ‘The first thing we are told is, ‘tomorrow you have to go to Liverpool until you pass a medical examination’. Of course, what is our reaction going to be if we have not negotiated, we have not spoken, we have not seen anything since May.’
Sierra also revealed that Jurgen Klopp’s personal approach left Caicedo ‘dizzy’, saying: ‘When Liverpool came and approached in that way, obviously Moises gets dizzy, I get dizzy myself, but Chelsea were by our side at all times asking us to go, they wanted an hour so that we could tell Brighton, so that they could match the offer and they gave them an hour and it ended in two days of negotiation.’
Chelsea’s long-term interest
Sierra also revealed that Chelsea had been interested in signing Caicedo since the January transfer window, but were unable to meet Brighton’s asking price at the time. He said: ‘It’s true that Chelsea were always there since January, what happened is that in January they couldn’t pay, they couldn’t go crazy because they had to go with one or the other, they couldn’t go with both of them and I didn’t know what Brighton were going to ask for, Brighton were not going to sell even for £1 billion.’
He added: ‘The issue of not going to Liverpool instead of Chelsea was also very questioned, the offers were similar in every way, the issue is that due to a question of values and a question of principles and of giving the floor to someone, when Liverpool’s offer arrived, Brighton were asked for time so that Chelsea could match it, they did that, they surpassed it and he ended up at Chelsea because he had given the word to Chelsea and he told them for quite some time.’
Caicedo’s move to Chelsea
In the end, Caicedo joined Chelsea in a £115m deal from Brighton. The midfielder has made five appearances for the Blues so far this season, scoring one goal in the process.
It remains to be seen how he will develop at Stamford Bridge but it is clear that he made the right decision in choosing Chelsea over Liverpool. With their long-term interest in him and their ambitious project for the future, it is no surprise that he chose to join the Blues.