Caicedo reveals phonecall convinced him to reject Liverpool

Stuart Telford

• 12 Nov 2023 10:58 GMT
• 3 min read

Moises Caicedo rejected Liverpool for Chelsea late in the summer transfer window, and he has now revealed that a phonecall from Enzo Fernandez tipped the balance.

Caicedo emerged as one of the most in-demand midfielders in world football last season, his performances for Brighton attracting interest from a host of Premier League rivals.

In the end, Liverpool and Chelsea both lodged bids that Brighton were willing to accept, and Caicedo chose the Blues, who he joined for £100 million - an incredible mark-up on the £4.5m Brighton paid Independiente del Valle for his services in February 2021.

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Chelsea had already paid Benfica a British record £106.8m for Argentina World Cup winner Fernandez, a player in Caicedo's position, in February, but his presence was a motivating factor for Caicedo.

Agent Enzo

"It was a nice chat," the Ecuadorean said of a phonecall Enzo had made to him. "I mean, the fact that a world champion was phoning you, one of the best midfielders in the world… receiving that call was very nice and he convinced me to come here.

"He said it was a great club, that there are many young players, there was a togetherness here. I have always enjoyed the bond in a team because I think that, if there is that bond, we can deal with any situation we may face: pressure, everything. So, that's what motivated me to come here."

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Chelsea are currently floundering in 10th, six places and nine points worse off than Liverpool after 11 games played, though Jurgen Klopp's side remain in the market for a defensive midfielder.

Frozen out Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is of interest, with Klopp seemingly unconvinced that Wataru Endo can replace Fabinho - who now plays for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia - in the longer term.