/sportzpoint/post_banners/be9f7d710995817d00902454bfcc278719cfecbec5b8213abeea3e40e446fcb2.jpg)
In Chelsea transfer news, the Blues are actively working on a deal to sign Brighton's Moises Caicedo for a British record transfer fee of £115m after the midfielder rejected Liverpool.
Caicedo wants to move to Stamford Bridge after turning down the chance to join Liverpool, despite the Reds agreeing a British record £111m fee with Brighton.
Chelsea had been prepared to offer £100m for the 21-year-old but are now working on upping their bid to £115m, which would break the British transfer record fee paid by the Blues who paid £106.8m for midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica in January.
Understand Chelsea are now in contact with Brighton to discuss their new bid for Moisés Caicedo. Talks on. 🚨🔵
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2023
Liverpool, prepared to walk away from the deal. pic.twitter.com/2fjcGCrWP9
Caicedo had been expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday after Jurgen Klopp's side had a bid accepted by Brighton following a midnight deadline for bids on Thursday.
But Caicedo had a change of heart and told Liverpool he did not want to join. He remained in London and has made it clear he only wants to leave Brighton for Chelsea, who have been pursuing him all summer.
Chelsea want to sign two midfielders this summer with the west Londoners close to an agreement with Southampton over the signing of Romeo Lavia, who remains a Liverpool target.
In other Chelsea transfer news, one source has told Sky Sports News they are interested in signing both Caicedo and Lavia.
BREAKING: Chelsea are actively working on a deal to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo in the coming hours 🔵⏳
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) August 11, 2023
The fee could be worth a British record £115m 💰 pic.twitter.com/WI7RWuVz8v
The developments come on the day talks between Chelsea and Leeds United over the signing of Tyler Adams broke down after the parties were unable to reach an agreement.
In the wake of his country's World Cup exit last year, when other players were jetting off to high-end holiday resorts, Moises Caicedo was back in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, playing in a local tournament on the same dusty pitch he used as a boy.
In footage which went viral in the country, Caicedo, a rising star in the Premier League who had just become Ecuador's youngest scorer at a World Cup, can be seen finding the net again, only this time as a ringer for Caicedos FC, a team made up of extended family members.
Tyler Adams deal, currently OFF after Chelsea decision to bid again for Moisés Caicedo — as @skysports_sheth called earlier 🚨🔵🇺🇸 #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 11, 2023
Chelsea are prepared to leave talks for Adams despite medical tests already done. Documents were not signed yet.
Full focus on Caicedo. pic.twitter.com/0DdPnv2eUR
His goal, slotted in at the near post in ramshackle surroundings, helped Caicedos FC win the tournament and was celebrated with a leap, a fist pump, and a gesture of recognition to the few hundred spectators sitting or leaning on fences around the pitch.
"This is Moises," Miguel Angel Ramirez, Caicedo's former coach at his boyhood club Independiente del Valle, tells Sky Sports with a smile. "Going back to his village, to his family, his friends, playing football, helping everyone there. He doesn't forget his people..."