Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The Reds have struck a deal worth a British record £110m for the 21-year-old, who was in London on Thursday watching the drama unfold.
Chelsea have long tracked the Ecuador international, who missed training earlier this week in a bid to force through a move to Stamford Bridge.
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Insiders believe the Blues will need to offer beyond Liverpool’s fee to restart the process after their bid of £100m was passed up on Thursday.
“I can confirm the [Moises Caicedo] deal with the club is agreed, whatever that means in the end. Of course, we want the player and not just the agreement,” said the German at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
Caicedo thought he would be joining Chelsea having verbally agreed a long-term contract in June but could now be attendance at Sunday’s clash between the two clubs at Stamford Bridge as a Liverpool player.
Liverpool have undergone a wide-scale rebuild of their midfield this summer after such a disappointing campaign last time out.
Alexis Mac Allister has already joined from Brighton, while Dominik Szoboszlai has been signed from RB Leipzig.
Klopp added that the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to clubs in Saudi Arabia have helped facilitate the deal.
“We don’t have endless resource. We didn’t expect a couple of things to happen over the summer but when that happened we gave it a go.
“Let’s see what happens and we go from there.
Of a potential medical for the player, Klopp refused to confirm if that could take place on Friday.
