An interesting exchange between Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia prior to joining Chelsea has been revealed after the two midfielders rejected Liverpool for the move to Stamford Bridge.
It would not be a normal summer in football without two of Europe’s biggest clubs going head-to-head in a dramatic transfer saga. This summer it was Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, who both looked to add to their midfield with Caicedo and Lavia topping their list of transfer targets.
It started in January, when transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported that Chelsea and Liverpool were among several top European sides interested in Caicedo, who had enjoyed a strong start to the season with Brighton and later impressed at the World Cup with Ecuador in the winter. Chelsea had an official proposal of around £55million rejected by Brighton before turning their interests to World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, who would join the club for a club-record fee of £106million in the final hours of the January window.
For the rest of the season, Caicedo and Lavia remained at their clubs where the Ecuadorian played a part in Brighton’s highest-ever finish in their top-flight history as they qualified for the Europa League, while Lavia was one of the few Southampton players who could hold his head high as their ten-year spell in the Premier League came to an end.
What happened between Liverpool and Chelsea in Caicedo and Lavia saga?.
And now, thanks to a report from The Athletic, we know exactly what happened in Liverpool and Chelsea’s pursuit of the two players. As of July, Liverpool were avoiding any involvement in the Caicedo saga as they were aware that Chelsea were much further ahead in terms of negotiations with Brighton following their January bid. Regarding the player himself, Caicedo had made it known to Brighton of his intentions to leave the club and during an interview with TC Deportes on July 11, he seemingly revealed his preferred destination.
When asked about Chelsea’s interest, he replied: “It’s a very historic team that I can’t say no to because it’s a very big, historic, beautiful team. The city as well is beautiful. It’s got everything beautiful.”
By the end of July Chelsea had made four bids for Caicedo reaching a fee of £80million which Brighton immediately turned down, insisting that they were not interested in selling the 21-year-old for less than £100million. Brighton were unhappy with Chelsea’s negotiation strategy as Caicedo had only signed a new contract in March and after Declan Rice had just signed for Arsenal for over £100m they felt their valuation of the player was justified, while still expecting that other clubs may join the race.
With Chelsea unwilling to raise their latest offer, Brighton proposed an offer which would have included English defender Levi Colwill as part of any deal for Caicedo. Chelsea refused the offer and subsequently agreed a new six-year deal with Colwill, effectively ending any chances of him returning to the club who he had spent the previous season on loan with.
While Chelsea were struggling with Caicedo, Liverpool were not having much joy in their pursuit of Lavia. Despite being relegated Southampton were firm with their stance on Lavia’s value which they had set at £50million, partly due to the 20% sell-on clause that would be owed to Manchester City in any transfer involving Lavia following his £10.5 million move the year prior.
With Liverpool losing several experienced options in James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho this summer, they had opted to search for younger replacements to fill the void in their midfield. Their first bid of £37million for the Belgian was rejected in the final days of July, before submitting a further two bids reaching a total package of £46million – again to no success.
Following their third bid being rejected Liverpool were forced to consider their next move and to assess whether there were better ways to spend their money than to continue negotiations with Southampton.
As Brighton and Chelsea were still yet to agree a deal on Caicedo, Liverpool felt there was an opportunity to step in and bring the Ecuadorian to Anfield. This is where the transfer saga really began, as Liverpool and Brighton had a positive relationship since Milner and Alexis Mac Allister making the switch in opposite directions already this summer.
Klopp’s messages to Caicedo – and Caicedo’s response
In the early hours of August 11 Liverpool and Brighton had agreed a British record fee of £110million for Caicedo, with a medical pending and personal terms still to be agreed. Manager Jurgen Klopp contacted Caicedo personally to discuss the move and make it clear that he was admired dearly by the club.
Sensationally, Caicedo responded to Klopp informing him that he had no interest in joining Liverpool and only wanted to move to Chelsea, halting the transfer entirely. Upon learning of this breakthrough Chelsea made an improved bid for Caicedo with a total package of more than £115million, leaving Brighton with no choice but to accept the new highest offer.
In the days that followed Chelsea finally announced the signing of Caicedo, breaking the British record for the second time this year and seemingly ending one of the most incredible transfer sagas we have ever seen, but there was still more to come. With Caicedo going to Chelsea it appeared to have given Liverpool a free run to return to their pursuit of Romeo Lavia, however when Liverpool initially abandoned the move to go after Caicedo, they gave Chelsea a major advantage by allowing them to engage in talks with Lavia as well.
What Caicedo messaged Lavia before rejected Liverpool for Chelsea
Just days later Chelsea announced the signing of Lavia for a total fee of £58million. Incredibly, it was Caicedo who played a major role in the signing when he messaged Lavia personally to convince him on the move by making it clear how much he would enjoy playing alongside the Belgian.
Chelsea also used Caicedo as a factor in convincing Lavia, presenting their project with an exciting young midfield being central to their plans under Mauricio Pochettino.
Liverpool quickly responded with an alternative signing in Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo from Stuttgart.When asked about the whole saga, Klopp said: “Transfer business is like that… sometimes it works out and sometimes not. I am more than happy to have this solution (with the signing of Endo).”
Despite a disappointing debut for Caicedo in which he conceded a penalty in a 3-1 loss to local rivals West Ham, it will be interesting to see how the season plays out for all the parties involved in this unforgettable transfer saga.
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