West Ham United’s Michael Antonio has shared his reaction to Liverpool’s failed pursuits of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia after the pair both opted for Chelsea over the Reds.
Speaking on The Footballer’s Podcast, his BBC show with fellow Premier League striker Callum Wilson, Antonio claimed that Liverpool’s transfer dealings had been a ‘madness’.
“Do you know what’s mad, during this thing I was like what is going on between those two,” said the West Ham man.
“Those chief execs have something!
“There is some beefing going on, it’s a madness.
“Literally, Liverpool go and it’s bid, bid, bid, bid and Chelsea step in and go ‘nah, this is my player now’ and they get him,” Antonio said on Caicedo.
“They got him because Caicedo is a massive Chelsea fan, there was a picture of him wearing a Chelsea shirt when he was younger sat with his mum and when he signed for Chelsea they recreated that, it was a beautiful moment.
“Then the Southampton midfielder, Lavia, again Liverpool £60million accepted.
“Now I’m hearing that Lavia wants to go to Chelsea as well!”
Antonio sounds just as shocked as the Liverpool staff and supporters alike. After all, it is very rare to see two key targets both opt for a direct rival in the space of a day or two.
Caicedo officially became a Chelsea player two days ago, whereas Lavia’s signing is all but confirmed simply awaiting an official announcement.
Antonio had a point, so what’s next?
Jurgen Klopp now has just two weeks to find an alternative to the pair and the rumour mill has been spinning furiously over the past 48 hours.
It was reported that the Reds had enquired into the availability of Real Madrid pair Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde upon being let down by Caicedo and Lavia – Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade was then again linked with an Anfield switch as he had been earlier in the summer.
It is bound to be a hectic fortnight for Liverpool in their search for a new holding midfielder, only time will tell who Klopp manages to bring in come transfer deadline day.
