The Seagulls and the Blues have been locked in talks over a move for the Ecuador international all summer and Chelsea have seen three offers turned down.
The west Londoners are not giving up on Caicedo, though, and held fresh discussions with Brighton over a possible transfer for the midfielder on Tuesday.
But their hopes of landing Caicedo have taken a hit after Brighton received a bid from a rival club on Wednesday, The Athletic reported on Wednesday, which is said to be worth more than Chelsea’s third offer of £80m.
The mystery rival club have not been named – with fans speculating online that it could be Bayern Munich, Newcastle United or even a team from Saudi Arabia.
Caicedo was previously strongly linked to Arsenal but the Gunners opted to sign Declan Rice from West Ham in a £105m deal instead.
Brighton want to secure a similar fee to part ways with 21-year-old Caicedo this summer.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have started to identify alternative targets if a move for Caicedo falls through.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino is eager to bring in a more defence-minded midfielder this summer to partner Enzo Fernandez.
The club are somewhat light on options in the middle of the pitch following the exits of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
