Chelsea’s £115 million record signing Moises Caicedo has been labelled the Premier League’s ‘Flop of the Season so far’ after Mauricio Pochettino’s side fought off competition from Liverpool and Arsenal.
There have been a few green shoots recently as far as the Ecuador international’s performances are concerned. But it’s fair to say that – for a British record fee of £115 million – far more was expected from a man who has been more underwhelming than transformative since his mega-money switch to Stamford Bridge.
Alongside Enzo Fernandez, another who cost Chelsea a nine-figure sum, Moises Caicedo is yet to live up to those lofty expectations. Not to mention that eye-watering price-tag.
And, for Ally McCoist, the sheer size of the fee stumped up by The Blues is enough justification for Caicedo to be named the ‘Flop of the Season so far’, ahead of Manchester United’s error-prone goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Moises Caicedo has struggled at Chelsea
“Andre Onana has been nothing like the signing everyone thought he would be for Manchester United,” the former Rangers, Sunderland and Scotland striker tells talkSPORT. “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 submitted a club-record bid of their own for Caicedo before Chelsea got their man, one of the South American’s representatives claiming that Arsenal also made a last-gasp attempt to hi-jack that historic switch to West London.
Arsenal, of course, would bring in a £100 million-plus midfielder of their own, with Declan Rice’s impact at the Emirates far outstripping that of Caicedo down the road at the Bridge.
A lucky escape for Arsenal and Liverpool?
“(Mauricio) Pochettino talks about assessing the players, but he can’t really. He’s stuck with them because most of them are on eight-year deals. He’s got Caicedo on big money on a long-term deal, but he hasn’t dominated one football match yet,” Gunners legend Paul Merson tells Sky Sports.
“Meanwhile, Declan Rice runs 90 per cent of the games he plays in. He has a say in the whole game, the way it is played and the way Arsenal play. Caicedo doesn’t do that.”
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