Journo provides unwelcome Chelsea update in Moises Caicedo pursuit

Chelsea reach a dead-end in negotiations with Brighton and Hove Albion for midfielder Moises Caicedo

As per a tweet from Brighton Bubble, via Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, Chelsea have reached an impasse during their negotiations with Brighton and Hove Albion for midfielder Moises Caicedo.

A few days ago, the Seagulls rejected a second bid of £70m for the Ecuador international. They have placed a price tag of around £100m for him, keeping the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal in mind.

Brighton want to sign Chelsea defender Levi Colwill but have had their bid turned down by the Blues. Their boss Roberto De Zerbi talked about a possible swap deal involving Colwill and Caicedo to keep both clubs happy.

The more the days are passing by, the less the chances of Chelsea outright signing Caicedo are becoming. It seems as if the Blues are not willing to match Brighton’s price tag for the player. Instead, they are trying to be cute with their offer. But, we know the Seagulls are one of the hard nuts to crack in the transfer market.

The south coast club generally get their way eventually. There is a reason why Chelsea paid £63m to sign Marc Cucurella from the Amex Stadium last summer.

But, looking at the squad Mauricio Pochettino has, there is a desperate need for an addition of a player or two in the midfield department. Forget two, the club aren’t even able to complete the deal for one at the moment.

There are other clubs, for example, Liverpool, in Europe that are looking to add midfielders to their squad. The more this saga drags, the better they might feel about attempting to sign Caicedo this summer.

Chelsea must guard against this transfer hijack and get their act together sooner rather than later. For the number of quality midfielders we have so casually sold in 2023, there cannot be compromises when it comes to replacing them.

More Chelsea News

• Chelsea are open to paying €90 million for Moises Caicedo’s acquisition
• Leicester City interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei on loan
• Dean Jones says Chelsea could send Carney Chukwuemeka on a loan

Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante were world-class for us and need players of that ilk to be their replacements.