Chelsea ‘on the brink’ of winning £115m transfer race to sign Liverpool target

Chelsea are ‘on the brink’ of signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion for a British transfer record, according to reports.

The 21-year-old has been Chelsea‘s summer top summer target and his preference was to make the switch to Stamford Bridge.

After several rejected bids, with the latest being £80 million, Liverpool swooped in and agreed a fee in excess of £110 million with Brighton which put pressure on Chelsea to increase their offer if they wanted to bring the Ecuadorian to west London.

However, Caicedo made it clear he wanted to move to Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have been working on a British record transfer, eclipsing Declan Rice’s £105 million move to Arsenal, and Matt Law and Sam Wallace of the Daily Telegraph have now reported a deal is moving closer.

It’s claimed that Chelsea are ‘sorting out the final terms of the deal’ after agreeing to better Liverpool’s £111 million offer that was accepted this week.

Jacob Steinberg adds that the £115 million deal is not yet done, but the deal is heading Chelsea’s way.

As reported by The Secret Scout, Caicedo will sign an eight-year contract until June 2031.

When asked ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge, which the Blues hoped to have Caicedo in attendance, Pochettino remained coy on the transfer pursuit.

He said: “I think you know me very well. I never talk about players that don’t belong to us. I am so respectful. I can tell you we are working very hard to add more players. To add quality. When we have news for you the club will tell you.

“At the moment I don’t want to talk about players that don’t belong to us. It’s important to be respectful. We are working hard to reinforce the team and the squad.

“I am so happy in the way we are doing things with Paul (Winstanley), Lawrence (Stewart) and the owners. The relationship is really good and close. So far so good. We are so happy.”

Chelsea are also in talks to sign midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton after lodging a £55 million bid for the 19-year-old, who is also of interest to Liverpool.