The Reds were beaten by the Blues to the signing of Caicedo earlier this week, despite first agreeing to terms with Brighton for a British-record £111m transfer fee.
Caicedo was due on Merseyside for a medical last week and manager Jurgen Klopp was even given permission by the Liverpool hierarchy to openly discuss the deal at a press conference ahead of their ironic trip to Chelsea.
But the Ecuadorian did not travel to finalise the deal and instead held out for a move to Chelsea. Though he was open to a move to Liverpool, he wanted to give the Blues more time to increase their offer to one deemed acceptable by Brighton as he was prioritising a transfer to Stamford Bridge.
Eventually, Chelsea agreed to pay £115m in order to get their man, much to Liverpool’s annoyance having been convinced Caicedo would end up at Anfield.
Liverpool then turned back to Lavia having had three bids rejected for him by Southampton already this summer, but this time intimated they would match Chelsea’s offer.
But Lavia has also chosen to join Chelsea instead in a £58m deal, leaving Liverpool high and dry in their quest to strengthen their midfield options.
Though Caicedo and Lavia were clearly towards the top of Liverpool’s shortlist, they do still have other targets and have done extensive due dilligence on the state of the current market.
They’re previously shown a strong interest in Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure, Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch, Nice’s Khephren Thuram and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone, while Fulham’s Joao Palhinha has caught their attention.
Liverpool are long-term admirers of Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, though they have not reignited this interest and the Moroccan is being eyed by rivals Manchester United.
One other name on Liverpool’s radar is Fluminense midfielder Andre, but they are unwilling to sanction a sale until they are eliminated from the Copa Libertadores – they are through to the quarter-finals, but the second leg of their tie against Olimpia is not until August 31, one day before the transfer deadline.
