Chelsea are on the brink of completing the £115million signing of Moises Caicedo after he delayed his Liverpool medical, reports have suggested.
The Brighton midfielder Caicedo has been the subject of two British transfer record fees this week. The first came from Anfield chiefs on Thursday (August 10) and was worth £111m.
It looked like the Reds had hijacked their Premier League rivals’ interest in him. But Caicedo didn’t travel to Merseyside for his medical as had been reported on Friday.
TalkSPORT claim the 21-year-old stalled on completing the move to give the Blues time to agree a deal – which The Telegraph report they’ve now nearly done on Saturday (August 12) evening.
They’ve reportedly bettered Liverpool’s offer, increasing it to £115m, and are confident it’s the end of the transfer saga. Caicedo, who’s been Mauricio Pochettino’s priority midfield target, is set to sign an eight-year contract having agreed personal terms back in May.
Chelsea are also in negotiations with Southampton over a £55m move for Romeo Lavia, who Liverpool have been pursuing too but weren’t willing to meet his £50m valuation. It’s believed he could head to Stamford Bridge as well as Caicedo.
Pochettino inherited a squad which has lost Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek this summer, so there’s plenty of room for both to arrive and strengthen his options.
Another player is on the verge of leaving and that’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who Real Madrid have identified as a replacement for the injured Thibaut Courtois. He’s being lined up for a season-long loan deal.
Chelsea are expected to sign another shot stopper if he leaves having bought Robert Sanchez for £25m from Brighton last week to compete with Kepa for the No.1 shirt.
