Round about a year and a half ago, Moisés Caicedo was playing for Independiente del Valle in his native Ecuador, making a name for himself as a skilful and physical all-round midfielder. As such, he was offered to Manchester United, who’ve been in desperate need of that since God was a lad, and Ole Gunnar Solskjær was keen, only for those above him to deem the deal too complicated, demanding, as it did, the payment of money.
So Caicedo went to Brighton, whose negotiators somehow navigated the torturous path of handing over the asking price, and has been excellent ever since. He stood out in his new side’s 4-0 thrashing of United last season and also in their opening-day win over them, such that United now want to sign him in what would be yet another triumph for football’s most-fabled recruitment department. However, Arsenal, West Ham, Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are also monitoring the situation.
