Arsenal could HIJACK Chelsea move for Caicedo

Carlo Garganese

19 Jul 2023 09:27 CDT
3 min read

Chelsea are trying to beat Arsenal to Moises Caicedo — © ProShots

Arsenal and Liverpool could still hijack Chelsea’s move for Moises Caicedo this summer, according to journalist Graeme Bailey.

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Bailey reports that while Chelsea are “firm favourites” to sign the Brighton midfielder, the difficulty they are having in closing a deal means that neither Arsenal nor Liverpool can be ruled out.

Chelsea had an €82 million offer for Caicedo rejected by Brighton earlier this week, according to David Ornstein.

The Athletic journalist reported on Tuesday that the official offer from Chelsea was sent in writing on Monday but was turned down.

This is the second bid Chelsea have had rejected by Brighton after an offer of €70m was pushed away in June.

The Athletic reports that Brighton are demanding €116m (£100m) for Caicedo.

Given the huge gap between Chelsea’s offer and Brighton’s request, Bailey feels that both Arsenal and Liverpool should be kept an eye on.

© ProShots - Caicedo wants to join Chelsea

Caicedo himself is desperate to join Chelsea and has reportedly grown frustrated at the delays in completing this transfer.

Don’t rule Arsenal and Liverpool out

But both Arsenal and Liverpool are big admirers of the Ecuador international.

Both teams are also still in the market for another central midfielder this window, although they both have to sell players first before they can invest.

Ironically, one of the main reasons Chelsea are having such problems in agreeing a fee for Caicedo is because Declan Rice’s transfer to Arsenal has inflated the market.

Rice moved to Arsenal last week from West Ham for an astronomical fee of €122m. Brighton want a fee that is in a similar ballpark to Rice.

Arsenal and Chelsea have tried to sign the same player on many occasions over the last year or so. The most famous was in January when Chelsea hijacked Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk for €100m.