Moises Caicedo’s agent admits a summer move to Liverpool would have been the ‘more stable’ choice than his record switch to Chelsea.
Caicedo appeared on the brink of a move to Liverpool after Brighton accepted a £110million bid, but the player stalled on sealing a deal having set his heart on a move to the Blues. Sure enough, when a £115m offer duly arrived, the Ecuadorian international opted to move to London instead of a move to Merseyside.
Chelsea had been chasing the 21-year-old since January, a notion that undoubtedly swayed Caicedo towards signing for Maurico Pochettino. But now representative Manual Sierra has admitted that the lure of Liverpool was difficult to reject.
“When Liverpool came and approached in that way, obviously Moises gets dizzy, I get dizzy myself,” he told Futbol sin Cassette . “But Chelsea were by our side at all times asking us to go, they wanted an hour so that we could tell Brighton, so that they could match the offer and they gave them an hour and it ended in two days of negotiation.”
Caicedo has since insisted that the interest from the Reds did flatter him, a claim that Sierra also embraced: “It is very complicated, imagine that Jurgen Klopp is writing to you, that Liverpool is calling you,” he added. “We are talking about something very big, that is, one of the best teams in the world, just like Chelsea, and with a more established and more stabilised project than what Chelsea have today, which is a very ambitious project with a view to two, three years ahead.”
The apparent admission that opting for Liverpool would have signified a more stable move has been reflected by early-season form. Both Caicedo, and the team, have stumbled thus far with only eight points from seven league matches, with Liverpool having amassed double that amount.
But Sierra has insisted that Caicedo has no regrets over his choice. He also implied that that opting to head to Anfield would have been a dishonourable transfer given his previous verbal agreement.
The issue of not going to Liverpool instead of Chelsea was also very questioned, the offers were similar in every way,” he said. “He ended up at Chelsea because he had given the word to Chelsea and he told them for quite some time.”
Caicedo, so pivotal to Brighton last season, has thus far struggled in this campaign. He made his club debut in August as a substitute against West Ham, only to give away a penalty in a 3–1 loss.
