Liverpool have reached an agreement with Brighton and Hove Albion to sign Moises Caicedo for a British record £110m ($140m).
Brighton held an auction with a midnight cut-off on Thursday, with Liverpool the highest bidders. Chelsea’s bid for the 21-year-old was up to £100m.
Personal terms are yet to be agreed between Caicedo and Liverpool, but are expected to be a formality, with a medical planned for Friday.
Chelsea had long been considered front-runners for Caicedo, but Liverpool remained in the discussions. This deal would break the club’s transfer record, which stands at £75m for Virgil van Dijk.
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Liverpool are in need of a new defensive midfielder after Fabinho departed to Al Ittihad.
Chelsea have pursued Caicedo all summer after seeing Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all leave the club. They are also interested in Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who is also on Liverpool’s radar, and Tyler Adams of Leeds United.
Brighton have already sold Caicedo’s midfield partner Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool, who will be competing with them in the Europa League next season.
They begin their Premier League campaign at home to Luton Town on Saturday before Chelsea welcome Liverpool on Sunday.
GO DEEPER
‘He was made for big clubs’: The rise and rise of Moises Caicedo
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images for Premier League)
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