Chelsea intend to hold firm during negotiations over Moisés Caicedo, with Brighton demanding at least £100m for the midfielder.
Caicedo is Chelsea’s main target as they look to reinforce Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield. Although they hope about £80m will be enough to sign the Ecuador international, Brighton believe the benchmark has been set by Declan Rice’s impending £105m move from West Ham to Arsenal.
Rice is closing on to become the most expensive British player, and Chelsea broke the British transfer record when they signed the Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernández from Benfica for £106.8m in January. Those figures have not escaped Brighton’s attention and it is understood their demands have caused talks with Chelsea over Caicedo to move slowly this week.
Brighton, who have lost one key midfielder after selling Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool, are looking to drive a hard bargain. They turned down bids from Arsenal and Chelsea for Caicedo in January and the 21-year-old has since signed a deal until 2027, with a one-year option. The positive for Pochettino is that Caicedo wants to move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea need to add depth in midfield after losing N’Golo Kanté, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic, having sold Jorginho to Arsenal in January. They are due to hold talks over moving for the Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga next week. Veiga has a buyout clause of £34.4m and is being chased by Liverpool, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
Chelsea do not want to go over the odds for Caicedo and are wary of being burned again during negotiations with Brighton. The clubs have had extensive dealings during the past 12 months, starting with Marc Cucurella leaving Brighton for Chelsea for £62m. Chelsea went on to poach Brighton’s head coach Graham Potter in September and their co-sporting director Paul Winstanley also joined from the club.
Winstanley is a leading figure in Chelsea’s transfer business and will be well known to Brighton’s negotiators. The aim will be to find a compromise on Caicedo. However Chelsea are determined not to include Levi Colwill as part of any deal. Colwill spent last season on loan at Brighton, who have had a £30m bid rejected, but Chelsea want to give the 20-year-old centre-back a new long-term deal.
A rebuild is under way at Stamford Bridge and César Azpilicueta has become the latest long-serving player to leave. The 33-year-old defender, who joined in 2012, has departed on a free transfer and signed a one-year deal at Atlético Madrid.
Chelsea are also in talks over selling Christian Pulisic to Milan, who look increasingly likely to sign the American winger, and hope that Al-Nassr will revive their move for Hakim Ziyech.
