Romano knows the TRUTH about Caicedo to Chelsea
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 28 Jul 2023 13:31 BST
- 3 min read
Fabrizio Romano has revealed the truth about Chelsea’s transfer chase to land Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Chelsea’s interest in the 21-year-old Ecuador international dates back to the January transfer window, when they had an offer rejected for him as they fought with Arsenal to sign a player just coming off a strong World Cup.
MORE: Five CHEAPER alternatives to Caicedo for Chelsea
The Gunners have dropped out of the running to land Caicedo, having signed Declan Rice from West Ham, but Brighton continue to stand firm on their asking price and Chelsea have, so far, been unable to come up with an offer that has been deemed acceptable.
Football transfer news specialist Romano has detailed exactly where the deal stands.
MORE: Enzo Fernandez and THREE transfers that threaten Chelsea’s Caicedo deal
Moises Caicedo to Chelsea: The latest
Chelsea have made an offer worth £80 million (€93.5m), according to Romano, who stressed that this figure also includes add ons. It took Brighton only “a few minutes to reject the proposal”, he explained via his YouTube channel.
The Seagulls are said to want “way more” than this figure, with the south coast club thought to have benchmarked Caicedo’s value against that of Rice, who made a move of approximately €116m to Arsenal earlier in July.
Romano reports that the negotiations between the clubs are not dead and that Chelsea are prepared to tweak their bid further before revisiting their rivals.
Caicedo, meanwhile, is pushing for the move to progress, with the Brighton star having looked disinterested during the recent friendly victory over Brentford – a match he came off the bench to play around 30 minutes in.
Chelsea, though, are looking at alternatives should a deal for Caicedo fall through, with Southampton’s Romeo Lavia widely reported to be their top target in this case. Liverpool are ahead in the race for the 19-year-old Belgium international, Romano stresses.
