The moment Moises Caicedo knew he would join Chelsea in Premier League’s craziest transfer
Chelsea were the only club to prioritise Caicedo from the start of the summer and he was sold on their project
Chelsea have completed the British record signing of Moises Caicedo from Brighton, in a deal that could be worth up to £115 million.
The formal announcement of Caicedo’s arrival at Stamford Bridge comes months after Chelsea first made him their top target for this summer window.
It also follows Liverpool’s unsuccessful attempts to convince Caicedo to join them ahead of Chelsea, despite the Merseyside club agreeing a £111 million deal with Brighton last week.
Caicedo has signed an eight-year contract with the option of a further year and the club announced his arrival with a video that was captioned: “It’s only ever been Chelsea.”
The clip shows two pictures of Caicedo wearing a Chelsea shirt alongside his mother, Carmen, one of which was taken on Monday and the other from 2020.
How Chelsea beat Liverpool to make Caicedo Britain’s most expensive player
Chelsea’s record-breaking move for Caicedo was months in the making but it was only last week, with the new Premier League campaign just days away, that the deal became truly alive. After an entire summer of offers, rejections, secret meetings and careful plots, the time had come for the key decision-makers to simply make the transfer happen.
For Chelsea, this meant the arrival of co-owner Behdad Eghbali as the new leader of negotiations. Until that point, the process had been largely orchestrated by co-sporting director Paul Winstanley, who previously worked for Brighton. Caicedo had been Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino’s top target throughout the summer but, once Eghbali flew into London to become personally involved, it became the owner’s deal.
For Caicedo, meanwhile, the start of the last week of pre-season prompted decisive action. On Monday, the Ecuadorian arrived at Brighton’s training ground and made it clear to head coach Roberto De Zerbi — in more direct terms than ever — that he wanted to leave. He is understood to have then emptied his locker and walked away.
The day before, Caicedo had been left out of Brighton’s squad for a friendly against Rayo Vallecano, with Brighton citing a minor hamstring injury. In an interview published on the club’s website, chief executive Paul Barber said: “We are looking forward to Moises starting the season with us.”
There is a reason that Brighton, under the ownership of poker player Tony Bloom, are regarded as masters of these situations. Bloom and Barber know how to play the game, and they know that timing matters. David Weir, the club’s technical director, was also heavily involved throughout. Brighton had rejected multiple offers during the summer and were largely unwilling to engage in talks but, for them as well as Chelsea, the start of last week was regarded as the moment to accelerate the process.
By midweek, Brighton had privately indicated that they would listen to offers. Chelsea were confident that Caicedo wanted to join them, but they could not know which other clubs might come forward. As reported by Telegraph Sport earlier this year, Caicedo’s list of admirers was long: Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Liverpool had all expressed interest at different moments in recent months.
As it turned out, it was Liverpool who jumped into the fray. The size of their sudden bid, £111 million, was staggering. As was the fact that they made the offer without any indication from Caicedo that he would be willing to join them. In the modern footballing world, such a move is extremely unusual and it was remarkable to hear Jurgen Klopp say on Friday that he simply did not know whether Caicedo would travel to Merseyside for a medical.
The obvious question: why was Caicedo’s head not turned by Liverpool’s offer? Only the player himself can provide an answer. What seems certain, though, is that Liverpool arrived too late. Caicedo had given Chelsea his word and he evidently did not want to break that promise.
It must have helped that Chelsea were the only club to prioritise Caicedo from the start of the transfer window. Arsenal’s top target was Declan Rice, while United were focused on Mason Mount. Bayern were chasing Harry Kane, and Liverpool have signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Chelsea, and Chelsea alone, wanted Caicedo above everyone else.
It is clear that Caicedo was sold on the Chelsea project, and the prospect of partnering Enzo Fernandez — now only the second most expensive player in British football history — in the centre of Pochettino’s midfield.
And so, on Friday, after Liverpool and Brighton had agreed their deal, the player informed the Merseyside club that he remained intent on joining Chelsea — despite Chelsea not having a bid accepted by Brighton.
Moises Caicedo did not have his head turned by Credit: Getty Images/Darren Walsh
After a statement like that, how could Chelsea not make renewed contact with Brighton? How could they not produce a new offer that exceeded Liverpool’s proposal? Caicedo had done his part, showing his willingness to join them above all other teams, and had sent an astonishing message to the world of football. The onus was now on Chelsea to do theirs.
On Friday evening, late into the night, they did. Club executives made contact with Brighton and a deal worth £115 million was agreed in principle. Liverpool had been in the picture for only a few days, and now they were effectively out of it again.
At which point, it is worth rewinding a few months. At the start of the summer window, Chelsea’s first bid for Caicedo was £60 million. They have therefore ended up paying almost double what they originally proposed. For that reason alone, Brighton will consider themselves to be triumphant in this saga. They signed Caicedo, in February 2021, for £4 million. They even succeeded in inserting a significant sell-on clause in the deal with Chelsea.
As reported by Telegraph Sport throughout the summer, Brighton have always valued Caicedo at £100 million or more. The transfer of Rice to Arsenal, in a deal that could be worth £105 million, only strengthened their resolve. Chelsea continued to up their offers during pre-season, producing bids of £70 million and then £80 million, but Brighton rejected them all immediately. There were no counter-proposals, and no suggestions of finding a middle ground. Brighton sources talked of Chelsea being “miles” away from an acceptable price.
It should not be forgotten that Arsenal bid £70 million for Caicedo in January, when the player released a public statement in which he declared his intention to leave the south coast. Brighton simply refused to sell, and they made it absolutely clear that Arsenal’s approaches were not welcome. Caicedo was distraught. While he later signed a new contract, that deal was never expected to keep him at the club beyond this transfer window.
By the time Chelsea played against Brighton in a pre-season friendly in the United States, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the only way they could sign Caicedo this summer was if they put serious money on the table. Around £100 million, at least. Unless, that is, they decided to include Levi Colwill as part of the deal.
In an extraordinary press conference in a small and dusty room in Philadelphia in July, De Zerbi effectively proposed a swap deal involving Colwill (who had spent last season on loan at Brighton) and Caicedo. After fielding multiple questions about Caicedo, De Zerbi told a group of travelling British journalists: “You have to ask me if Colwill wants to come to Brighton. There are two questions. Not only about Caicedo.”
Chelsea’s key decision-makers knew that offering Colwill to Brighton would make a deal for Caicedo infinitely more straightforward. But they wanted both players, and insisted throughout the summer that Colwill was not going anywhere. When the young defender then signed a new contract at Stamford Bridge at the start of August, the equation was made more simple — but also more expensive.
Caicedo’s own actions, and the introduction of Eghbali as the new leader of Chelsea’s negotiations, finally brought the situation to boiling point last week. Liverpool’s intervention then drove up the price further, forcing Chelsea to bid far more than they ever expected or planned. As reported by Telegraph Sport last week, sources believe their decision to pull out of a £20 million deal for Leeds midfielder Tyler Adams, in the heat of the battle with Liverpool, was no coincidence.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, the two clubs worked to finalise the paperwork. By Monday morning, everything was in place and Caicedo could complete his medical, carry out his media duties and — at last — pose for pictures with a Chelsea shirt, at the start of his new life as the most expensive footballer in British history.
Caicedo’s arrival at Stamford Bridge was officially announced by the club with a picture of the player wearing a Chelsea shirt, alongside his mother, in 2020. The caption? “It’s only ever been Chelsea.”
