According to numerous reports in the early hours of Friday morning, Liverpool had a bid of around £110 million for Moisés Caicedo accepted by Brighton and Hove Albion late on Thursday night, usurping a £100 million offer from Chelsea, who have seemingly pursued the Ecuadorian for much of the summer transfer window.
Having reportedly been stationed in London on Thursday, the player is now expected to travel to Liverpool in order to complete a medical and paperwork on Friday morning.
If successfully wrapped up, the move would represent both a club-record signing for the Merseysiders, scaling January 2018’s £75 million deal to bring Virgil van Dijk to Anfield from Southampton, and a British record transfer, edging the £106 million agreement that Chelsea struck with Benfica in January 2023 to secure Enzo Fernández's services.
While potentially unlikely, registering Caicedo by 12pm BST on Friday would, in fact, make him eligible for Sunday’s opening Premier League trip to Stamford Bridge to face the Blues.
Fabrizio Romano, Melissa Reddy of Sky Sports and David Ornstein of The Athletic were among those offering updates on proceedings via tweets, articles and – in Romano’s case – a post-2am BST Instagram Live outing as the saga dramatically escalated and considerably changed course in a little over 12 hours.
Analysis
Clearly, this would be a highly significant move, in several senses. From a Liverpool standpoint, it represents a notable and encouraging display of purpose.
It was widely recognised that a midfield rebuild was required this summer, in the wake of 2022/23’s struggles and the departures of James Milner, Naby Keïta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arthur Melo at the end of last season.
After the arrival of Alexis Mac Allister – Caicedo’s former Brighton colleague – and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig in June and July respectively, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho’s moves to Saudi Arabia last month considerably shifted the picture for Jürgen Klopp’s side and left additional gaps to fill.
Simultaneously, those exits brought in upwards of £50 million, while considerable amounts were cleared from the wage bill. That financial kick may well have proven decisive in allowing Thursday night’s previously uncharted outlay.
Nonetheless, there had been plenty of concern in the time since those departures, as the apparent pursuit of Southampton’s Roméo Lavia became increasingly drawn-out. That process has seen Liverpool have three bids rejected by the Saints, who continue to value the 19-year-old defensive midfielder at £50 million.
Intriguingly enough, Chelsea reportedly outbid the Reds – with an offer of £48 million – on Wednesday night.
LFC’s apparent unwillingness to meet that asking price led to a sense that a genuine attempt to bring in Caicedo was unlikely, given he was only set to be available for around double that amount and the West Londoners were perceived to very much be in the box seat.
However, reports began to emerge late on Thursday morning that Liverpool had made contact with Brighton regarding their much sought-after midfield general.
It appeared, at first, like due diligence. A move to Mauricio Pochettino’s team still looked a matter of time.
However, Liverpool evidently received indications that a deal could still be done and, according to Ornstein on The Athletic, ‘Brighton held an auction with a midnight cut-off on Thursday, with Liverpool the highest bidders. Chelsea’s bid was up to £100m.’
This turn of events seemingly demonstrates that Caicedo was considered an A-list option by the Merseysiders. There appear echoes of the 2018 deals for Van Dijk and Alisson Becker in how a sizeable – but potentially worthwhile – fee was swiftly paid for a player who could prove genuinely transformative.
It may explain the stringent approach to the Lavia negotiations, which often felt somewhat puzzling. Could sporting director Jörg Schmadtke have been aware that such an opening for Caicedo may emerge and have held out for that moment?
It is understandably being asked why this deal wasn’t sealed earlier, given it’s now more than 10 days since Fabinho’s departure was confirmed. Perhaps, though, the unique, tight-deadlined, context of Thursday’s auction offered the only viable window of opportunity.
Either way, there is understandable excitement in Liverpool corners about the range and level of attributes Caicedo could offer – and the tactical possibilities he could open up.
A player who is likely to, chiefly, slot in at the base of the midfield, his ability to operate effectively as either a single or double-pivot, No.8 or even as either a conventional or inverted full-back could unlock a lot of options for Klopp and co.
Even so, there remains a feeling that the Reds could still do with bringing in another defensive midfielder and a left-footed centre-back in order to better balance their squad. This deal may, therefore, not necessarily mean the end of Liverpool’s interest in Lavia.
With that in mind, if Caicedo’s transfer does indeed go through, it will be fascinating to see what impact his arrival has on both performances and the wider approach.
