Brighton have given Moises Caicedo a fresh price tag after rejecting Chelsea's opening bid. The 21-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge since the appointment of his former boss Graham Potter as Blues boss.
football.london understands that the west Londoners are expected to persevere in their pursuit of Caicedo before the January transfer window slams shut. It's said that Chelsea are in the market for a new midfielder this month amid the uncertain futures of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho, who are both set to leave in the summer once their contracts expire.
The former has suffered an injury-ridden campaign on the sidelines while the latter has struggled for form, so Caicedo has been identified as a solution to Chelsea's midfield problem. It's believed that the Blues submitted a formal offer in the region of £55million for the Ecuador international last week, which was rejected without negotiation.
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According to The Times, Brighton owner Tony Bloom will not permit another departure this month after having already sold Leandro Trossard to Arsenal. And, in a bid to fend off interest from Todd Boehly, the Seagulls have placed a valuation of £100million on Caicedo.
While the midfielder has shown no sign of pushing for an exit, he has already admitted that he's open to joining Chelsea. Speaking to Ole ahead of the World Cup, as quoted by the Evening Standard, he said: "It made me very sad now that he left for Chelsea because he helped me a lot and I wanted to continue having him as a manager, but that’s football.
"Right now I’m very focused on Brighton and the World Cup. I want to have a great World Cup and then we’ll see what happens.
"I think they are one of the best teams in the world and nobody would turn down an offer from Chelsea or any other club like that. It’d be a dream to be in the best teams in the world and succeed there."
Speaking to the media last week, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi insisted that he wants the youngster to stay at the Amex Stadium until the end of the season but admits that it could be difficult to do so. He said: "Moises is very important for us.
"It is difficult to change with another player now at this stage. I hope he finishes the season with us, but it’s always difficult to be certain. When big teams want our players, it’s good news for the club.
"The best solution is that he finishes the season with us and for him, in the summer, it’s better then if he changes teams. I don’t know if he will continue to play like this - the last games - it is possible he can leave for another team [in the summer]."
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