- Brighton to ask for over £100m for Caicedo
- Chelsea eye Caicedo to bolster midfield
- Player has a contract with Brighton until 2027
WHAT HAPPENED? Arsenal are set to pay £100 million ($127m) up front to West Ham for Rice, plus £5m ($6.4m) in add-ons to land the England international. In the wake of the impending move to Arsenal, which may set a benchmark for transfer fees, the Seagulls have upped their price for Caicedo, as reported by The Telegraph. Chelsea remain interested in Caicedo as they rebuild under Mauricio Pochettino, but they have to spend big to land the midfielder. The 21-year-old Ecuadorian is seen as comparable to Rice, but with the added advantage of being three years younger.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Brighton consider Caicedo to be on a similar level to Rice and will only let him leave for an enormous fee. Chelsea broke the British transfer record in January by signing Enzo Fernández from Benfica for £106m. With key midfielders like N'Golo Kanté, Mateo Kovacic, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek leaving, Caicedo is a target for Chelsea to pair with Fernández in another high-profile transfer.
AND WHAT'S MORE: Brighton rejected two bids from Arsenal for Caicedo in the January transfer window, with the second offer reportedly around £70m. The midfielder has since signed a new contract with Brighton, extending his stay until 2027 with a one-year option. Chelsea's interest in Caicedo is reinforced by the presence of Paul Winstanley, a former Brighton employee, as their director of global talent and transfers. The clubs have previously collaborated on deals, including the signings of Graham Potter and Marc Cucurella.
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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT? Brighton could be set to make a huge profit on Caicedo who arrived in 2021 for just £4m. The Seagulls have already sold Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool this summer, and manager Roberto De Zerbi has previously acknowledged that Caicedo could also leave.