Transfer: Brighton Midfielder Caicedo Agrees To Join Liverpool After Accepting £110m fee, To Undergo Medical Today

By Daniel Ojukwu with agency reports

Liverpool  Football Club of Englang have agreed a £110 million fee with Brighton to sign midfielder Moises Caicedo.

According to football transfer expert David Orstein, Brighton held an ‘auction’ on late on the night of Thursday,  10 August, 2023 with Liverpool the highest bidder.

Liverpool’s bid was more than Chelsea’s bid of about £100 million and Bayern Munich’s bid of £90 million.

The 21-year-old will discuss personal terms with Liverpool, with a medical planned for Friday.

Caicedo’s deal is a British-record transfer fee, more than the £106.8 million Chelsea paid to sign Enzo Fernadez in January.

He joined Brighton from Independiente del Valle on a four-and-a half-year deal for an undisclosed fee in 2021.

Liverpool formally submitted their proposal late on Thursday night after Caicedo indicated his willingness to move to Anfield.

As reported by Sky Sports News, they were locked in discussions with Brighton to ascertain all the financial parameters of doing a deal in case Chelsea couldn’t or wouldn’t reach an agreement.

Liverpool were informed just after midnight that they were indeed the highest bidders. Personal terms with Caicedo have been agreed and planning for all the formalities of a transfer are now in motion.

It is understood Chelsea were prepared to go to £100m, while Bayern Munich indicated they would pay £90m.

Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Caicedo has agreed a deal to sign for Liverpool.

The Reds have now bear Chelsea to their prime transfer target this summer after they had a £110million bid accepted by Brighton in the early hours of Friday morning. Speaking ahead of his side taking on Chelsea on Sunday, Klopp said: “First and foremost, I got told I can confirm the deal with the club is agreed. Whatever that means exactly.

“We want the player and not any kind of agreement. What did change is we are a club, we don’t have endless resources. We didn’t expect a couple of things to happen this summer; [Jordan Henderson, Fabinho] – stuff like this. We gave it a go and we will see. I’ve told you now what I know.”

When asked if his medical is later today, Klopp replied: “I cannot say. I do not know.”

It seems as if Caicedo still needs to agree personal terms with Liverpool but that is not expected to be an issue. For Chelsea, it comes as a massive blow after spending the last few months negotiating a deal with Brighton, only for Liverpool to swoop in at the last hurdle and seemingly beat the Blues in the race to sign the Ecuador international.

Interestingly enough, Chelsea face Liverpool on Sunday afternoon in their first match of the Premier League season. Whether or not Caicedo will be playing for the Reds remains to be seen, but it now looks like time for Chelsea to switch their attention elsewhere.

The Blues have a genuine interest in Romeo Lavia from Southampton. The club saw a £48million offer turned down by the Saints on Wednesday evening but are expected to return with an improved bid.

Southampton initially asked for £50million but the Championship club could now ask for north of that given the competition for his signature. Meanwhile, Tyler Adams of Leeds United is close to completing his long-term move to Chelsea after the club triggered his £20million release clause.

In the wake of his country’s World Cup exit last year, when other players were jetting off to high-end holiday resorts, Moises Caicedo was back in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, playing in a local tournament on the same dusty pitch he used as a boy.

In footage which went viral in the country, Caicedo, a rising star in the Premier League who had just become Ecuador’s youngest scorer at a World Cup, can be seen finding the net again, only this time as a ringer for Caicedos FC, a team made up of extended family members.

His goal, slotted in at the near post in ramshackle surroundings, helped Caicedos FC win the tournament and was celebrated with a leap, a fist pump, and a gesture of recognition to the few hundred spectators sitting or leaning on fences around the pitch.