Chelsea have signed Moises Caicedo. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Brighton captain Lewis Dunk is not surprised by interest from Chelsea in Moises Caicedo but wants the midfielder to stay at the Amex Stadium.
In an interview with Sky Sports, quoted by Football London, Dunk admitted that top Brighton players getting linked with big clubs is nothing new. Earlier this summer, we saw Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister.
Chelsea have been interested in signing Caicedo for some time now, but haven’t been able to get the deal over the line. Brighton recently rejected the latest bid worth £80m from the Blues for the Ecuador international.
Here’s what Dunk said when asked to give his verdict on the 21-year-old’s future (h/t Football London):
“It’s not the first time it’s happened and it’s not the last but for a player that’s in the squad. It’s a difficult place to be in for him but we’re all there for him.
“Obviously, we don’t want him to go. What a player, he probably makes my life easier playing in front of me so yeah, hopefully he can stay and we can keep him happy. We’re all there for him and whenever he needs to speak we’re around.
“He’s getting on with training and working and he played [vs Brentford] and I’m sure you play again [against Newcastle]. So yeah, he’s getting fit for the season hopefully with us.”
Dunk’s comments shouldn’t come as a surprise because it is understandable he would want one of his team’s best players to stay. It would have been extremely odd had he said otherwise. After signing a new deal with Brighton after the January transfer window, Caicedo has left the Seagulls with a stronger hand in this negotiation.
The south coast club knows they are under no pressure to sell their midfielder under Chelsea to pay the asking price, which is £100m+ at the moment, even though personal terms are agreed on.
Chelsea must be desperate to add a quality midfielder to the squad after letting go of quite a few this summer. They are only left with Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher as senior central midfielders per se.
The onus is on the Blues to pay the money and get this deal done with. Is it easy? Probably because the end target is known and they were not far behind with their latest bid of £80m that got rejected.
The Caicedo saga is destined to linger on till the final embers of this transfer window. These sorts of transfers generally happen when the season has started and clubs start to become more desperate than before.
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