Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes Moises Caicedo had an emotional agreement with Chelsea
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes that Moises Caicedo had an emotional agreement with Chelsea before joining them. The Reds and Blues competed for the Ecuadorian midfielder, resulting in the former breaking another British transfer record to secure his signature.
Chelsea had a longstanding interest in signing the 22-year-old and engaged in prolonged negotiations with Brighton & Hove Albion last summer, spanning over a month. Eventually, Liverpool outbid Chelsea during the negotiations with Brighton, putting pressure on the West London club, which ultimately led the latter to pay £115 million upfront to secure Caicedo from the Seagulls.
Caicedo had a chance to accept the Reds’ bid and join them, but the midfielder had already made up his mind and joined Chelsea. Since then, the 22-year-old has settled well and is slowly showing his worth on the pitch. Hopefully our trip to Anfield tonight will see him further make that point.
And when questioned about Caicedo’s transfer competition with Chelsea ahead of the game against the Blues, (h/t Mirror), the former Borussia Dortmund manager said:
“But he had an emotional agreement already with Chelsea and Maurcio Pochettino. Then Lavia had his own reasons, so we were there. Then we found our top solution.”
We were in a race to sign Caicedo since the 2022 winter window, but at that time we couldn’t close the deal as Brighton were reluctant to sell him, so signing him in the summer window was our top target because N’Golo Kante left for the Saudi League.
The 22-year-old knew we had been long-term admirers of him, and it was a sign of respect towards us because we desperately wanted him. When Declan Rice went to Arsenal, signing Caicedo became the ultimate goal.
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This may be more of a gesture of loyalty to the club that has been after you than an emotional agreement. Though the team hasn’t been all that prosperous here, we have still improved, and he has been tremendous for us, silently putting on excellent performances.