Chelsea buy Moises Caicedo for Premier League record £115m

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo. The Londoners agreed to pay Brighton up to £115m (€133m) for him. Thus, Caicedo will become the most expensive player in the history of the English Premier League (EPL). It is noteworthy that just two years ago he cost Brighton 25 times cheaper.

Tonight, Chelsea put an end to a fascinating story with the transfer of Moises Caicedo. As early as last Friday, it looked like the 21-year-old Ecuadorian would move from Brighton to Liverpool. At least Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp has bluntly stated that the club’s management allowed him to announce the transfer of the player. It was reported that Liverpool would pay £111m for Caicedo, already making him the most expensive player in Premier League history. The previous record was held by Enzo Fernandez, for whom Chelsea paid Benfica £107m in January.

However, the official announcement of Caicedo’s move to Liverpool was delayed.

It turned out that Chelsea, whose management called the Ecuadorian one of their key goals this summer, went to interrupt the Liverpool offer.

The Londoners have offered £115m for the midfielder. Daily Mail, of which only £100m is guaranteed. The remaining £15m will be given to Brighton in the form of bonuses, subject to the player achieving a number of milestones. As for the player’s salary, it will be about £8 million per year. Note that in Brighton he received eight times less.

A couple of years ago, Caicedo was an unknown young player from the Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle. In February 2021, he sold him to Brighton for just £4.5 million. However, it seemed that Caicedo would take a long time to gain a foothold at the top European level. After moving to England, he did not go to the Brighton base, and in August 2021, before the transfer window closed, the club loaned the midfielder, whom he did not particularly count on, to the Belgian Berschot.

However, soon Brighton, faced with a shortage of midfielders, returned the Ecuadorian, and he quickly became a key figure in the team. So much so that he attracted the attention of at least three top clubs in the league.

In addition to Chelsea and Liverpool, Arsenal also had views of Caicedo.

Actually, it was the competition of big teams that drove the price of Caicedo to its current level. Such price ups – 25 times in just a couple of years – the history of football generally knows little.

In the overall list of the most expensive transfers in football history, the Caicedo transfer ranks fifth. paid more for Neymar (€222 million), Kyliana Mbappe (€180 million), Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele – €135 million each.

Arnold Kabanov