Chelsea were left stunned by Liverpool’s enormous bid for Moises Caicedo this summer.
In one of the most absorbing transfer sagas of recent times, the Reds went over Chelsea’s heads to have a £111m bid accepted by Brighton for Caicedo two weeks ago.
Despite Liverpool’s success in negotiations though, the player ultimately dug his heels in and joined the Blues. Today, The Athletic have attempted to unravel the chain of events that led to English football’s transfer record being obliterated.
It’s reported that the view on Liverpool from Brighton and Chelsea was very different. The Seagulls reportedly felt Jurgen Klopp and co had simply ‘outmanoeuvred’ their rivals, who had become ‘complacent’ in the race for Caicedo.
The South Coasters are said to have been under the impression that Chelsea simply hadn’t expected any competition for the Ecuadorian.
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This seems to be something the two clubs agree on. Sources within the Blues’ camp are claimed to have been ‘surprised’ by Liverpool’s bid. However, there was also reportedly a feeling that the Reds were being ‘insane’ in submitting such a mammoth offer at the last minute.
As a result, Chelsea are said to have remained calm, and gone about assessing what they had to do next. There reportedly remained a confidence that they would get their man. And so it proved.
Liverpool make ‘insane’ Caicedo choice
There will have been many a Liverpool fan feeling exactly the same way on seeing news of the Caicedo bid.
Throughout the previous day there had been plenty of reports suggesting they may wade in. But it had seemed like more of a box-ticking exercise than anything else.
In the end, it was anything but. Liverpool meant business and they weren’t afraid to show it.
At the time, the news was obviously greeted with sheer delight on Merseyside. A clear show of ambition from both coach and owners, and the chance to beat a rival to a key target. What’s not to like?
As things progressed and it became clear that Caicedo only wanted to join Chelsea, the sanity of such a move was rightly being questioned, though. Two weeks on, and it looks like potentially one of the worst decisions in Liverpool’s recent transfer market history.
Not only did they fail to sign Caicedo, but their attempts to get him triggered Chelsea to pinch Romeo Lavia from them, too. Alerting clubs to the fact you have over £100m sitting in the bank is never good either, and Liverpool have had to settle for a cut-price option in Wataru Endo.
Nothing if not entertaining. But insane? Perhaps.