Chelsea remain as the favourites to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton this summer and they may have a secret weapon over any rivals going for his signature.
After losing out to Paris Saint-Germain for Manuel Ugarte, Mauricio Pochettino has since made it very clear he wants Caicedo to partner Enzo Fernandez in the Blues midfield next season. An opening £60million bid was put forward by Chelsea earlier this month, but immediately rejected by Brighton.
In the following weeks, those within Stamford Bridge have been focused on exits, with a further five first-team stars set to join N'Golo Kante in heading out the exit door. Hakim Ziyech, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy are all heading to Saudi Arabia alongside Kante, while Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz are set for moves to Manchester City and Arsenal, respectively.
With those six moves now finalised, attention is expected to turn back to Caicedo over the next week and an £80million offer is currently being prepared, as per the Mail. While other Premier League clubs are looking at acquiring midfielders, Chelsea looked set to have a free run at Caicedo, however that no longer looks to be the case.
Arsenal's move for Declan Rice is in doubt as football.london understands Manchester City are preparing a bid of their own. The Gunners not signing Rice this summer could see them turn their attention back to Caicedo, who they had two bids rejected for in January, and the advantage would likely be theirs especially as they can offer European football.
Manchester United can also provide that guarantee and the Guardian have reported that Erik ten Hag could switch his focus away from Mason Mount and onto Caicedo if that saga with Chelsea continues. While those worries likely prominent in west London, the Blues may look to use the secret weapon they have ahead of an impending battle for Caicedo's services.
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Last summer, Chelsea signed Marc Cucurella from Brighton in a deal worth £62million showcasing their is a relationship already there between the two clubs and thus also with the Spaniard and Caicedo. This was further proven on Instagram as Cucurella replied to Caicedo's post of him in America by saying "fresco", which translates from Spanish to English as "cool",
Caicedo also responded to his comment by putting a *grinning face emoji* and *raising hands* emoji. While the real battle is settling on an appropriate fee with Brighton, as Caicedo wants the move to Chelsea and is already on the verge of agreeing personal terms, if the Blues can't get a deal done quickly any serious interest arriving from Arsenal or Man United late into the summer window could then be a problem.
However, Cucurella can speak to his former team-mate about the Chelsea project and potentially convince him it is still the best move. Ideally for the Blues, Mount's exit to Man United will be sanctioned and Rice will sign for Arsenal, but if neither happen and both put forward bids for Caicedo, Chelsea have a back-up plan at the ready.
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