Moisés Caicedo’s agent doubled down on the decision to snub Liverpool in the summer, but Chelsea is making that call look worse and worse by the week.
Make no mistake — Chelsea is a complete mess. And no one perhaps deserves to be enjoying that more than Liverpool.
Another ridiculous splurge from Todd Boehly in the transfer market during the summer, taking his total spending at the club to over $1bn, has seen the make-up of the Blues’ side change almost completely in the last year or so.
The result of such reckless spending? Three defeats from the opening six games, with Sunday’s humbling courtesy of Aston Villa meaning Chelsea has now won just six of its last 35 Premier League games. With just 30 points in total during that timeframe, the Blues would be firmly in a relegation battle, if not already down, if it was an ongoing season.
In stark contrast, Liverpool is unbeaten in its last 17 league games and is already 11 points ahead of Chelsea this season, all of which makes Moisés Caicedo’s decision to snub the Reds during the summer all the more curious.
The midfielder effectively doubled down on his decision to force through a move to Chelsea, despite Liverpool having an offer accepted by Brighton, when his agent Andrea Pellegatti lifted the lid on the move a few days ago.
“£116m, equivalent to €133m ($142m). The result of long work on the player, who quickly progressed in England after moving to Belgium. With De Zerbi he exploded and then we arrived at Chelsea and Liverpool who they fought over it,” Pellegatti told Sport Italia when asked to clarify the fee Chelsea agreed with Brighton.
“The amount paid is no accident. It was finalized in the last few hours, but the boy only wanted Chelsea, who had started to express their interest in a consistent manner since January.”
Caicedo might well have had his heart set on a move to Chelsea, but his decision is becoming harder and harder to justify with every passing game.
Liverpool had a settled manager, European football, and had already proven during the final run-in last season that it was turning its form around. Chelsea, on the other hand, was on its fifth manager in less than a year, had just finished in the bottom half of the table, and had done little to sort the bloated squad that had been pinpointed as a major cause for its poor form last season.
And of course, he wasn’t the only player to snub Anfield in favor of Stamford Bridge, with Roméo Lavia making the same call after Liverpool failed in its attempts with Caicedo.
The Ecuador international may well come good at Chelsea, but right now, his decision looks like a mistake that is only getting bigger by the week. That should be a lesson to any other player faced with the same choice.
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