Moises Caicedo reveals why it was ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ for him to turn down a £115m record move to Chelsea… and explains why Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool were ‘too late’ in trying to get him to Anfield
- Moises Caicedo snubbed a move to Liverpool in favour of joining Chelsea
- It has been a mixed start to life at Stamford Bridge – but he has no regrets
- A restless crowd and a club with the same old problems. Teams are racing past Crystal Palace… but what do Eagles fans want? – It’s All Kicking Off
Moises Caicedo has detailed why he only had eyes for Chelsea – despite Liverpool making a late bid of more than £100million to get him.
The midfielder was hot property in the summer, with Brighton resigned to the fact they were unable to keep him.
That news caused a bidding war and after months of negotiations Chelsea were able to see off Liverpool to make Caicedo the most expensive player in British football history at £115m.
‘It was impossible to say not to Chelsea, because they were with me supporting me,’ Caicedo told Sky Sports.
‘In the last moment Liverpool called me but it was [too] late because I wanted to play for Chelsea.’
Moises Caicedo only had eyes for Chelsea after interest from the Blues became apparent
Caicedo snubbed Liverpool and their boss Jurgen Klopp when they made a late move for him
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Caicedo added: ‘In the summer I suffered a lot because it was complicated to leave Brighton.
‘They were with me, and in the last moment Liverpool called me but it was [too] late because I wanted to play for Chelsea. It was tough to say no to Chelsea.’
Caicedo cannot hide away from the fact that he has struggled since swapping the south coast for south London.
Those struggles prompted Klopp to have a pop at Caicedo, suggesting Liverpool dodged a bullet.
‘The summer we had a few strange things happen in the transfer market but here, between us, I can say, “My god, were we lucky, eh?”,’ Klopp said recently.
Caicedo has struggled with life at Chelsea since making his record £115m move in the summer
‘We didn’t know that in that moment and it didn’t feel like it in that moment, but yeah, I’m really happy that it worked out, but you never know before.’
The Liverpool manager added, jovially: ‘We obviously realised that other central defensive midfielders don’t want to join Liverpool, you see what happens, and then we found [Wataru] Endo. He’s an exceptional player.’
Caicedo has struggled to the point Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino held a one-to-one meeting in a bid to get to the root of the problem recently.
The Ecuador international’s progress hasn’t been helped by the fact that he frequently has to travel to South America for international duty.
In addition, Caicedo has had to contend with a knee problem and Pochettino stressed he needs to be given time to hit the heights that he reached at Brighton.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has held one-to-one meetings in a bid to unlock Caicedo
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Pochettino said recently of their meeting: ‘Before this press conference, he was in my office for 20 minutes. It is easy because we speak Spanish. It is a subconscious process and that is a problem – only in time can you adapt.’
‘Right now, this is a bad time for me, and my family is suffering a lot because they read and listen to the things people say about me that are not good,’ he added in his conversation with Sky.
‘It’s hard. It’s hard for me. I try to be strong, because football is like this. I am prepared for this. I try to help them in every single way, because they’re with me in good moments and bad moments.’
Caicedo will be seeking a breakout display for struggling Chelsea this weekend when they take on relegation favourites Sheffield United.
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