Chelsea are preparing a huge first offer to Brighton for midfielder Moises Caicedo, according to reports, as part of a midfield rework this summer. It comes at a time where there's plenty of change within the squad at Cobham, with the squad requiring a trim before pre-season fully kicks off.
New head coach Mauricio Pochettino is tasked with returning the Blues towards the top end of the Premier League, with the side finishing in 12th last season. The former Tottenham boss will also be hopeful of guiding some of the young players signed by the new owners Boehly-Clearlake into becoming stars of the team.
The west London club have already confirmed the incomings of Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Kendry Paez for the campaign ahead, but further reinforcements are expected. Before then, there's some exits required as the squad has suffered from being bloated with so many additions over the past year.
One area that has been completely reworked is in midfield as Jorginho's exit in January has been followed by N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the summer window. Mason Mount appears the next to follow as football.london understands a total offer worth £60million from Manchester United for the Cobham academy graduate has been agreed.
With such a huge number of losses, there will be the need to make some additions in the summer, with Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher two of the only first-team midfielders remaining. That's where a move for Caicedo comes into the equation as football.london understands the Brighton star is a top target for the Blues this summer.
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The 21-year-old is versatile but has shown his ability off the ball to be his greatest strengths and could allow for him to play at the base of the midfield to push Fernandez higher. Having signed a new deal earlier this year, the Ecuadorian international won't come cheap though.
Chelsea will be hopeful their huge opening offer will see them win the race for his signature decisively as Ecuadorian journalist Diego Arcos claims that a bid is coming. The reporter says the London outfit are preparing a deal worth an initial £75million with £10million in add-ons - resulting in a total offer of £85million.
The talks are also claimed to be moving in the right direction, with discussions surrounding the installments with which the transfer fee will be paid in. It remains to be seen if that is the case, but it would be a huge signal of intent from Chelsea as to where they intend to build towards in the near future.
