It’s ‘unreasonable’ for Brighton to expect more than £66m to sell reported Liverpool target Moises Caicedo.
The Seagulls are claimed to have put a £100m valuation on the Ecuadorian midfielder. But according to sources cited by journalist Ben Jacobs on Twitter, there’s no serious expectation that they’ll receive such a figure.
“Brighton are not seriously quoting £100m. What they are actually saying is Caicedo is not for sale. The figure itself comes from Graham Potter’s own “half-joking, “half-serious” (as Brighton CEO Paul Barber put it) valuation when he was still Brighton boss,” wrote Jacobs.
“An offer of £75m+ (or one with a strong structure for less) would still give Brighton a serious decision to make, especially with Caicedo extremely keen on the move. He’s very humble & focused, so will not force a transfer like Wesley Fofana, but he’d love a January move to Chelsea.
Jacobs went on to say that sources don’t expect Caicedo to cost more than former Liverpool target Aurelien Tchoumaeni cost Real Madrid last summer.
“It’s important to also note, £75m is an extremely high number hence why Chelsea came in much lower. The initial fee for Aurélien Tchouaméni was €75m (£66m). Multiple sources have made it clear it is unreasonable for Caicedo to be priced higher than the Real midfielder,” he said.
“Ultimately, Brighton can stick to their position of ‘not for sale’ and either refuse to engage or quote astronomical numbers. After all, they ideally don’t want to lose Caicedo mid-season.”
Liverpool not out of the running for Caicedo
This is a relatively encouraging update for Liverpool. Although Jacobs is focused around Chelsea’s bid for Caicedo, it still seems unlikely that they’ll sign him this month.
Instead, the 21-year-old will more than likely be on the move in the summer. By that time, Liverpool should be much more willing to commit to a big transfer fee. They reportedly rate the player very highly.
They were seemingly willing to pay Tchouameni’s asking price last summer. As a result, they shouldn’t balk at a similar price for a similarly gifted footballer.
Chelsea’s presence could complicate matters, though. Last summer, it was clear that Tchouameni wanted to join Real Madrid. Even if Liverpool offered Monaco 10x what the Spanish club were paying, it wouldn’t have mattered. The Frenchman wanted Real and that was that.
In Caicedo’s case, he doesn’t seem to have a preference where he ends up. This will leave the ball firmly in Brighton’s court. Given their history in the market, they’ll only sell to the highest bidder.
Usually in these kinds of wars, Liverpool are priced out. But with Chelsea and the Reds reportedly after four or five of the same midfield targets, Jurgen Klopp and co simply have to win one of them. At this kind of price, that could still be Caicedo.
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