Chelsea are still pushing to sign Brighton and Hove Albion star Moises Caicedo and are set to offer a deal in the region of £70million.
Moises Caicedo hopes Brighton and Hove Albion will sell him to Chelsea as the Blues prepare their next bid.
That is according to the London Evening Standard, who report that Chelsea have already had a £60million bid rejected.
Chelsea aren’t going away though and it’s claimed that they will now go to £70million-plus in an attempt to convince Brighton.
Caicedo is understood to have agreed terms and is hoping that Brighton will let him go once this next bid comes in for him.
That seems unlikely though as Brighton are looking at Arsenal’s Declan Rice deal as a benchmark.
The Gunners just completed a £105million deal to sign Rice from West Ham United.
Brighton clearly see Caicedo as a similar talent and therefore want similar money – a figure nowhere near the £70million Chelsea are offering.
Talks are ongoing but Brighton aren’t budging, meaning Chelsea will have to dig deep.
Chelsea desperately need another midfielder amid Moises Caicedo chase
Chelsea’s midfield situation over the last few months has developed into a real problem.
Yes, Enzo Fernandez arrived for huge money but Chelsea did let an experienced performer leave in January as Jorginho joined Arsenal.
The exodus has really kicked off this summer though with four notable midfielders moving on.
N’Golo Kante has headed to Saudi Arabia, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount have traded West London for Manchester – City and United respectively – and Ruben Loftus-Cheek has joined AC Milan.
Add in speculation over Conor Gallagher and it feels like Chelsea need to add two or even three midfielders before the end of the window.
Caicedo – hailed as ‘magnificent’ by Jamie Redknapp – would be an enormous capture for Chelsea and an exciting midfield partner for Fernandez, but there is a long way to go until a deal is done.
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