Liverpool’s pursuit of Moisés Caicedo has taken another intriguing turn with the midfielder reportedly preferring a move to Chelsea.
The Reds had reached a club-record fee agreement with Brighton, paving the way for Caicedo’s move to Anfield. However, recent reports, from Fabrizio Romano among others, suggest that the Ecuadorean player may be having second thoughts about joining Liverpool, with Chelsea confident of outbidding its rival.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino refused to comment directly on his side’s interest in Caicedo during a press conference on Friday ahead of the Premier League clash between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Pochettino told reporters: “I never talk about players that don’t belong to us. I am so respectful.
“What I can tell you is that we are working really hard to add players to the squad. If we have some update for you, the club will do it. At the moment, I don’t want to talk about players that don’t belong to us.
“Like any club, we are working really hard to try to add more quality. I am so happy the way we are doing things.”
Liverpool initially had its sights set on Southampton’s Roméo Lavia before turning its attention to Caicedo in recent days. Meanwhile, Chelsea has already had three bids rejected for Brighton’s prized asset but remains determined to secure his services.
The transfer saga adds another layer of anticipation to their upcoming showdown this weekend. While Liverpool has already secured the agreement with Brighton, Chelsea’s interest in Caicedo could potentially disrupt the deal with a hijack of their own
Reds boss Jürgen Klopp confirmed on Friday that Liverpool had agreed a fee with Brighton, saying: “I got told I can confirm that the deal with the club is agreed. Whatever that means exactly in the end we will see.
“What did change is we are a club who doesn’t have endless resources, so we didn’t expect a couple of things to happen in the summer — Hendo, Fab, stuff like this — we didn’t think about that before the summer to be honest, and when it happened we gave it a go (to sign Caicedo).
