Brighton & Hove Albion must be sick of the sight of Chelsea. Having signed Marc Cucurella in a £56m deal in early-August before luring away manager Graham Potter a month later, the Londoners are attempting to go back shopping on the south coast once again.
Reported interest in Leandro Trossard came to nothing as the Belgian joined Arsenal in a £21m deal last week. But such speculation did prompt social media creatives to have fun with a clip from ‘Breaking Bad’, with Bryan Cranston's Walter White taking on the role of Potter and urging ‘owner Todd Boehly’ (in this case Bob Odenkirk's Saul Goodman) to make the call to Brighton to hijack the deal.
“I can't, I can't (call anonymously) They know me, they know my voice, they'll know me. Please, you've got to do it for me. I'm begging you. Please, please!"
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An amusing, exaggerated take on ‘live scenes’ at Stamford Bridge as their scattergun spending spree continues. After all, plenty has been made of Chelsea’s transfer approach since Boehly took over the club last summer, with the Londoners going on to spend a whopping £460m on 15 players since then. Such totals look certain to rise in the final week of the January transfer window.
But while Chelsea made no such move for Trossard, it’s a different story when it comes to some of Brighton’s remaining star players. Credited with interest in World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister, they had a £55m bid rejected for Moises Caicedo earlier this month as they plot a midfield revamp at Stamford Bridge.
It was reported earlier this week that Chelsea are poised to make an improved offer for the Ecuador international, with Brighton said to be holding out for £75m. Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the Seagulls are ‘scouring the market for potential replacements for the 21-year-old’, with the Independent suggesting that they have had a bid rejected for RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara.
However, the Times claim that Brighton have actually told Chelsea it’ll take a bid of £100m to sign the midfielder, with the Seagulls not wanting to sell another star player and deplete their squad any further. It would seem that perhaps they are also fed up with answering the phone to the Londoners, considering that hefty rise in asking price as they continue to eye up possible replacements.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one such target, according to the Mail. His versatility in both attack and midfield already presents him as a potential replacement for Trossard, as well as providing another option in the engine room if Brighton did cash in on Caicedo.
Out of contract in the summer, the England international is highly likely to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. Yet the Mail reports he could call time on his Anfield career six months early if the Reds were willing to sanction a free transfer exit.
Considering their own midfield woes this season, for Liverpool to consider such a departure, then they would need a replacement of their own. Yet, Jurgen Klopp’s stance throughout the month has been that he expects Cody Gakpo to be the club’s only mid-season signing.
But credited with interest in Caicedo themselves, could the Reds use Oxlade-Chamberlain as a way to sweeten any potential deal with a week to go until the transfer window closes?
Liverpool are admirers of the Ecuadorian, and it was reported earlier this month that they had been in touch with his representatives. However, it was also suggested that they were trailing Chelsea in such a pursuit.
But if the Londoners are struggling to conclude such a deal, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Reds could swoop in. It is what happened when signing the likes of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Cody Gakpo after all, when they had previously been expected to join Premier League rivals.
If Brighton are pricing Chelsea out of signing Caicedo, after already waving off Cucurella and Potter to Stamford Bridge, it’s plausible that the Seagulls’ asking-price could lower their demands for an alternative club. If they boast serious interest in Oxlade-Chamberlain, with time running out until the transfer window closes, offering the midfielder as a makeweight could make such a deal with Liverpool more appealing for both clubs.
Admittedly, letting the midfielder depart would leave the Reds even shorter when it comes to homegrown numbers for their Premier League and Champions League clubs. But with the 29-year-old set to depart in the summer anyway, Liverpool will already have plans in place to bolster their quota.
Meanwhile, Caicedo is still considered an Under-21s player so wouldn’t actually need to be registered to play in the Premier League this season, while Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn’t included in their Champions League squad for the first half of the campaign, so sanctioning his exit would free up one of the Reds’ maximum permitted three changes to their squad.
The funds involved could still provide Liverpool with a headache, as they seemingly wait to go all-in for first-choice target Jude Bellingham in the summer. As a result, it would admittedly be a surprise if they made a late swoop for Caicedo.
But with Chelsea seemingly no closer to agreeing a fee for the Ecuador international and Brighton reportedly boasting interest in Oxlade-Chamberlain, the door has been left ajar. Throw in the fact that the Reds will be travelling to Brighton for their FA Cup fourth round clash this weekend and there remains a small opportunity for Liverpool to move for Caicedo at the 11th hour if they wish to take it.
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