Chelsea don't appear to have ruled out signing either Brighton star Moises Caicedo or Benfica's Enzo Fernandez as the need for a quality central midfielder remains. Despite signing six players in the January transfer window, with Noni Madueke the latest to arrive at Stamford Bridge, the Blues are yet to recruit in a position that to many should be the priority.
Todd Boehly looked on the verge of signing Fernandez, but his £106million release clause proved to be a major stumbling block in negotiations. Subsequently Benfica grew tired of Chelsea's attempts to sign their World Cup winner with low cash plus player offers as opposed to paying the release clause.
Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister, who played alongside Fernandez in Qatar, emerged as the back up plan with Graham Potter eyeing a potential reunion with two players he brought to England.
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Chelsea sent their opening bid of £55million for Caicedo to 'test the water', but saw it rejected with Brighton demanding upwards of £75million. Just two years ago a fee of £5.3million was paid for the Ecuador international by the Seagulls, who likely viewed him as their long-term successor to Yves Bissouma.
Upon the 26-year-old's move to Tottenham in the summer, Caicedo has now become a key cog in the Brighton midfield and with interest understandably arriving for his services, the club are on the verge of acquiring his successor.
As revealed by Daniel Kristoffersson, Brighton have agreed a deal to sign AIK midfielder Yasin Ayari for £5.3million, thus handing a huge boost to Chelsea in their hopes of signing Caicedo this month. Jacob Steinberg has reported that the Blues are currently deciding whether or not they should send a second bid for the 21-year-old.
However, if it is decided that looking elsewhere in the market is the best option, Chelsea could reignite their interest in the player who dominated their thoughts in the early stages of the window.
In an interview with GiveMeSport, Dean Jones revealed that there is no obvious midfield plan for the Blues which could mean they do turn back to Fernandez
“Obviously, the chances of making another bid for Enzo Fernandez have been played down quite heavily," he said.
“However, I wouldn’t totally rule it out. I’ve spoken to a couple of people around Chelsea who say, while it is unlikely at the moment, they don’t have a new plan to go and fix that midfield problem they’ve got."
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