Liverpool put their dismal display away to Brighton behind them this week, an improved performance in the FA Cup against Wolves saw the Reds go through to the 4th Round with a 1-0 victory at Molyneux. Jürgen Klopp made eight changes to his side, with Naby Keita and Stefan Bajčetić providing some much-needed energy in the midfield.
One man not short of energy in the middle of the park this season has been Brighton’s, Moisés Caicedo. The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to a variety of Premier League sides, with Liverpool mentioned as a possible future destination.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones for his thoughts on the Caicedo links.
Neil said:
“I had a conversation about Moisés Caicedo this week with someone, I tentatively mentioned £50 million, but they said it will be more than that. I think it’ll be a lot more than that. They [Brighton] got £55million+ for Marc Cucurella. I don’t think Brighton will sell this month. I have said that for a few weeks. It would need some justification from Brighton if they were to do it.
He’s going to go to a Champions League-level club. He’s going to move to that kind of elite club. I think he’s going to go for elite money as well. I think Liverpool would like to have him. I think there’ll be a lot of clubs, and Liverpool will be one of them, who will be asking their scouting departments, ‘where were we?’
It wouldn’t have been beyond the realms for them to be aware of Moisés Caicedo. You would hope they were, but I think there will be questions asked us to why we haven’t been able to get them for the four or five million pounds, rather than the £75/80million.”
Redmen Reacts
The idea that Moisés Caicedo could come in as a ‘cheaper’ option alongside the club’s pursuit of Jude Bellingham is fanciful. The sort of fee Brighton would seek for a player who has played only 25 Premier League games is likely to price Liverpool out. It would need a mammoth bid to prize Caicedo from the south coast in the January transfer window, and the signs suggest this would be extremely unlikely from the Reds in the next ten days. Big fees were paid for Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, but both of these players had a greater body of evidence when came to good performances over a longer period of time. If the Ecuadorean continues to impress, Liverpool could consider getting involved in a summer bidding war. N’Golo Kanté signed for Chelsea after one season in English football and has gone on to be one of the best in the world in his position. Caicedo would need to follow a similar career trajectory to justify the sort of figures that are currently being discussed.
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