A penny for Moises Caicedo’s thoughts. At one point it looked like he would become Liverpool’s record signing this summer. Instead, the Ecuadorian and his agent toyed with the Reds, using their late interest to ensure his desired, drawn-out switch to Chelsea actually went through.
In need of a new holding midfielder after Fabinho and Jordan Henderson’s unexpected moves to Saudi Arabia, Liverpool had an £111m bid accepted for Caceido by & Hove Albion and got us far as booking in a medical for the 21-year-old. But it soon became clear, despite calls with Jurgen Klopp, Stamford Bridge was his desired destination.
Sure enough, he got his move as Chelsea belatedly agreed a deal worth up to £115m with the Seagulls. To rub salt in the Reds’ wounds, the Londoners would then also beat them to the signing of alternative target Romeo Lavia, snapping the Belgium international up for £58m including add-ons from Southampton.
Klopp was privately convinced that the Saints had overvalued the 19-year-old anyway. Consequently, Liverpool would make a surprise move for 30-year-old Japan captain Wataru Endo instead, signing him from VfB Stuttgart for £16.2m.
Chelsea fans would rejoice, delighted at having seemingly won the transfer battle. Two and a half months later and they clearly didn’t win the war, with it proving to be the Reds who are enjoying the last laugh.
Owner Todd Boehly might have spent over £1bn since taking over at Stamford Bridge last year, but Chelsea remain a mess. Mauricio Pochettino was appointed as manager in the summer in a bid to arrest flailing fortunes, after the Londoners, having got through three managers last season, finished the season in 12th.
Now 10 games into the current Premier League campaign, and without the desired lucrative distractions of European football, they sit 11th in the table on 12 points. It is progress of sorts, I suppose.
Winning just three league matches so far this season, Chelsea might have drawn at home to Liverpool and Arsenal, but they also lost at Stamford Bridge to Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and, most recently, Brentford. Throw in a 3-1 defeat away at London rivals West Ham United and it is already proving to be another campaign to forget.
In 2023, only Everton and AFC Bournemouth have recorded fewer points than Chelsea’s total of 32. They have played 33 matches, three more than Liverpool’s Merseyside neighbours, with it perfectly plausible that they would actually be bottom of the annual table after the same total of games played.
To compile the misery, it will surely get worse for the Londoners before it gets better, with Pochettino’s side currently in a wretched run of daunting fixtures. Having drawn 2-2 at home to Arsenal, conceding a late equaliser, they travel to league-leaders Tottenham Hotspur and host Manchester City before the November international break.
After that, a home meeting with Brighton is sandwiched between trips to Newcastle United and Manchester United. On paper, Saturday’s home clash with Brentford was by far the easiest match of this seven-game run, and yet they fell to another dismal defeat following another pathetic performance.
Consequently, Caicedo’s dream move is already turning into something of a nightmare. Making eight Premier League appearances for Chelsea to date, starting seven, he’s conceded penalties, been at fault for goals, and been left unable to single-handedly boss midfield as he had repeatedly done so memorably for Brighton.
Of course, he is not the only one to blame for the Londoners’ poor form. But that won’t stop Kopites smirking at his misfortune. Meanwhile, the fact that Lavia is yet to even make a matchday squad, let alone play, for Chelsea because of injury won’t be lost on those of a Reds persuasion either.
Like Chelsea, Liverpool were a shadow of their former selves last season also. Failing to qualify for the Champions League, Klopp had no choice but to implement an £150m midfield overhaul with four summer signings as he conducted surgery on an ageing squad.
Such a total could have perhaps stood at £246m or £195m if Caicedo or Lavia had opted for a move to Anfield over Stamford Bridge.
For reference, Chelsea’s first-choice midfield pairing of the Ecuadorian and Enzo Fernandez cost a combined £221.8m, with the £106.8m signing of the Argentine from Benfica in January responsible for bumping up the prices of Caicedo, Lavia, and pretty much every other midfield transfer this summer. They have only themselves to blame.
But it’s not as though the Reds are left regretting the pair’s rejections. They sit fourth in the table, after all, and have one foot in the Europa League knock-out stages courtesy of winning their first three games, with only controversial officiating away at Tottenham costing them an unbeaten record.
Meanwhile, all four of their new midfield signings are already more than proving their worth. Dominik Szoboszlai has already established himself as a firm fan-favourite, while Alexis Mac Allister is proving to be a £35m bargain – even if he is yet to play in his preferred position.
Endo is admittedly taking a little longer to adjust to English football but continues to take steps in the right direction, as demonstrated by his impressive performance, capped off with a goal, in Liverpool’s 5-1 thrashing of Toulouse on Thursday night. Meanwhile, Ryan Gravenberch is another to quickly win over the terraces and leave supporters salivating at his potential, as he makes up for lost time following a year predominantly spent on the sidelines at Bayern Munich.
Yet for as impressive as the Reds’ midfield revamp has proven to be, one thing remains quietly missing. After all, Liverpool fans are in agreement on three things when it comes to assessing Mac Allister and his start to life at Anfield.
Firstly and secondly, he’s a very good midfielder and one the Reds snapped up at a snip from Brighton after activating his £35m release clause. But as talented as the World Cup winner is, Kopites are yet to really see the best of him. A natural holding midfielder, he is not.
Very much a square peg in a round hole, only time will tell if Endo will inherit the deeper position when fully up to speed with English football. Still, Mac Allister is still enjoying a more successful start to the season than his Argentina and former Brighton team-mates at Stamford Bridge.
Admittedly, the prospect of Caicedo following Mac Allister from Brighton to Liverpool remains an intriguing one in hindsight. After all, he was wanted by Klopp to be first choice at Anfield, playing in a midfield trio with Szoboszlai and his Seagulls former team-mate.
But with that record £111m bid accepted and a medical booked in, the Ecuadorian had other ideas. Digging his heels in to join Chelsea, it is easy to suggest that he chose poorly with the two clubs contrasting fortunes rubbing more salt in the wounds than any transfer rejection.
Had Caicedo, or even Lavia, chosen Liverpool, they would have been first-choice for the Reds with Klopp’s next generation engine-room seemingly in place for years to come. Instead, the vacancy remains open.
Regardless of who the German selects in the deeper role, they still appear to be a stop-gap only following Fabinho’s unexpected departure. Liverpool might have spent £150m on four new midfielders this summer, but there is a feeling that their revamp is not yet complete.
Links with Andre Trindade continue, with Fluminense willing to sell the Brazil international in January, while Thiago is expected to leave Anfield at the end of his contract next summer. Consequently, there remains a possible midfield vacancy at Anfield, with Fabinho still not satisfactorily replaced.
It’s not ideal but Mac Allister is only keeping the seat warm as the Reds’ holding midfielder. The Argentine is not the long-term answer, nor is the 30-year-old Endo, but Liverpool don’t intend either of them to be.
Caicedo could have been, of course, but he made his choice. Even if it was one many were left bemused by at the time, never mind now, months down the line in hindsight. After all, these ongoing Stamford Bridge struggles are no surprise to onlookers after a free-for-all transfer strategy and managerial merry-go-round.
As the Ecuadorian struggles for solutions of his own at an out of control Chelsea, the Reds have long since moved on. If you don’t want Liverpool, then they don’t want you.
While the Londoners continue to collect players like stickers or trading cards rather than actually build a competitive team, Reds bosses take such rejections in their stride and will already be eyeing up alternative targets. There is always a method to their madness.
‘Winning the transfer market’ by any means necessary is all well and good but not if you don’t make it count on the pitch, as Boehly continues to find out to his club’s cost.
Admittedly, deep down, few will realistically believe that Chelsea will remain mid-table fodder with an £115m flop in midfield for long. Sooner rather than later, things will click again at Stamford Bridge.
But they are already playing catch-up on Klopp’s Reds. And if Chelsea aren’t careful, Liverpool’s eventual signing of a natural holding midfielder, at the third time of asking after being snubbed by both Caicedo and Lavia, will be enough to see them disappear into the distance.
The Reds might be on a different path, for now, having had to take a brief detour following such rejections, but they will have no regrets. Whether Caicedo and Chelsea can claim the same in an over-populated, under-performing Stamford Bridge dressing room is a different matter entirely.
