Liverpool believe that there’s a real chance that Chelsea are unable to match their bid to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton.
It seems a long time ago now, but 24 hours ago Liverpool were in pole position for Caicedo. Having just had a £111m offer accepted, they were ready to push forward with a medical and get the deal wrapped up.
But things changed over a manic Friday. Chelsea roared back into the picture, refusing to take no for an answer. It was a day full of claims and counterclaims, with The Times wrapping up their coverage with an interesting update last night.
They claim that Chelsea are prepared to raise their bid, with a belief that Caicedo wants to join them. This has reportedly seen co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali take over negotiations.
But Liverpool are claimed to be unconvinced. The Reds supposedly think that the Blues are ‘struggling to find an agreement’ with Brighton and are not walking away.
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It’s claimed that although they have indeed been informed by Caicedo’s camp that he would prefer to join Chelsea, they believe they do still have a chance.
This is seemingly based on them being given ‘encouragement’ by the 21-year-old and Brighton on Thursday evening. Liverpool’s £111m bid is also detailed, with it said to be including bonuses, rather than a straight fee.
Liverpool calling Chelsea’s bluff
The longer this goes on, the more it starts to feel as though Liverpool are gaining the upper-hand.
Should Chelsea fail to find an agreement with Brighton today, then it’s a very clear sign that they simply can’t afford it. Given their obscene spending of the last 12 months, that would seem like a pretty fair bet.
Although they’ve shifted out a lot of players this summer, they’ve still been spending freely. At some stage, that has to come with a cost.
From Liverpool’s point of view, that cost will hopefully be to miss out on their top summer target.
Throughout this saga so far, Chelsea have been making a whole lot of noise. They pulled out of a deal to sign Tyler Adams from Leeds and have been throwing their weight around in regards to Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
But it seems that this could all be a lot of bluster. It doesn’t pay to make promises you can’t keep in football, and Boehly might be about to find that out.
Meanwhile, Liverpool wait patiently to see how things unfold. By sticking around, the Reds are showing Caicedo that they are serious, while Chelsea may very well not be. Time to call their bluff.