Danny Murphy feels that Liverpool’s mega-money bid for Moises Caicedo was ‘ridiculous’ in hindsight with the Premier League’s £115 million record signing struggling to live up to expectations at Chelsea.
Durin Chelsea’s latest humiliation – Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto running riot at Stamford Bridge as Wolves cruised to a 4-2 win – Mauricio Pochettino’s £220 million duo were made to look decidedly-second rate by a Wolves midfield, in Joao Gomes and Mario Lemina, who set the Wanderers back just £25 million in comparison.
An Enzo Fernandez – Moises Caicedo partnership may work on paper but, unfortunately for Mauricio Pochettino, the sport is played on turf, a ferocious Wolves outfit exploiting Enzo’s lack of physicality and Caicedo’s sluggishness in possession.
Chelsea beat Liverpool to Moises Caicedo
The latter, in particular, has been a major disappointment. Ally McCoist, speaking in his talkSPORT punditry role, went as far as to describe Caicedo as the ‘flop of the season so far’. And that’s before he found himself swarmed and swamped by Gary O’Neil’s chest-thumping outfit.
And, in hindsight, former Liverpool ace Danny Murphy is somewhat relieved that Liverpool’s own club-record bid for the former Brighton and Hove Albion ace failed, Jurgen Klopp’s side offering £111 million before being pipped to the post as Todd Boehly chucked another expensive dart in the vague direction of his dartboard.
“(Liverpool’s bid for Caicedo) was ridiculous,” Murphy tells talkSPORT (7 February, 10.30am).
Murphy’s comments feel even more pertinent when you consider that, on current form, Caicedo would struggle to even nail down a starting berth in Klopp’s engine room. Alexis Mac Allister, his former Brighton team-mate, has comfortably outperformed the Ecuador international since making a big summer move of his own.
‘Flop of the season’
“(Goalkeeper) Andre Onana has been nothing like the signing everyone thought he would be for Manchester United,” former Rangers and Scotland striker McCoist argues. “But I’m not giving him flop of the season so far. I think that’s ever so slightly harsh.
“But Moises Caicedo, I saw him a couple of times, particularly at Old Trafford (in a 2-1 defeat to Man United in December) with Enzo Fernandez in the middle of the park.
“Both of them were, for a quarter of a billion pounds, not great. Caicedo would certainly get my vote over Onana.”
Liverpool, interestingly, did also miss out on a cheap Caicedo alternative. Fluminense confirmed that they rejected a £26 million bid for Andre Trindade.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
