‘No accident’ - Moises Caicedo agent speaks out on Liverpool bid and makes £116m claim

Moises Caicedo’s agent Andrea Pellegatti has claimed the midfielder only wanted to join Chelsea in the summer following serious interest from Liverpool last month

The Reds agreed a British record deal with Brighton and Hove Albion worth £111million as they sought to bolster their midfield options but Caicedo declined to enter into negotiations with the Reds after the bid was accepted by his club.

Liverpool left their offer on the table meaning Chelsea had to increase their bid to land the star, with Pellegatti confirming to Sport Italia the deal agreed with the Stamford Bridge club was worth £116m.

Pellegatti said of Caicedo’s move to Mauricio Pochettino’s side: “£116 million, equivalent to €133 million euros. 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.

“The amount paid is no accident. It was finalised in the last few hours, but the boy only wanted Chelsea, who had started to express their interest in a consistent manner since January.”

Liverpool released Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin and James Milner at the end of last season with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho departing for Saudi Arabia during the summer window.

The Reds had only signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai when their move for Caicedo collapsed but Jurgen Klopp bolstered his midfield options with the arrivals of Wataru Endō and Ryan Gravenberch before the closure of the window.

Caicedo has had a tough start to his Chelsea career and has failed to impress in his first four appearances for the London club. He conceded a penalty in the Blues’ defeat to West Ham in August and lost possession prior to Nottingham Forest’s winning strike in a 1-0 win for Steve Cooper’s side at Stamford Bridge at the beginning of September.