Chelsea 'prepared to spend £70m on Moises Caicedo'

Chelsea are reportedly prepared to reignite their interest in Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo.

In the 12 months since the arrival of a consortium headed by Todd Boehly, Chelsea have spent in excess of £600m across two transfer windows.

However, such an aggressive approach in the market has backfired with the West Londoners sitting in 11th position in the Premier League standings and without European football for 2023-24.

While Mauricio Pochettino is on the brink of being appointed as the club's new head coach, Chelsea face another summer of change and transition as they bid to reduce squad numbers and boost their position with FFP.

Of all the positions in their squad, Chelsea are overloaded with central midfielders, an area which will be reduced with the exit of Juventus loanee Denis Zakaria and likely departure of Mateo Kovacic.

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Nevertheless, further sales will have to follow if Pochettino wants to sign a new player for the engine room of his own, a development which is deemed likely given their struggles this campaign.

According to Fichajes, Chelsea are willing to pay as much as €80m (£70.2m) to complete a deal for Caicedo.

The Ecuador international has been a revelation since moving to the Amex Stadium, helping transform the Seagulls from relegation candidates in the Premier League to a club competing for European qualification.

Caicedo has made 30 starts and two substitute outings in the top flight this campaign, one which he had hoped to finish at Arsenal.

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Brighton allegedly rejected £60m and £70m bids for the 21-year-old in January, with Caicedo failing with a plea to move to a bigger club and eventually signing a new contract.

Despite that development, it has been claimed that Brighton will give more thought to cashing in on Caicedo in the summer, and Arsenal remain interested in his signature.

That said, the Gunners also want to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United, a deal which may take priority over one for Caicedo, and it helps Chelsea move further up the queue.

Liverpool are also said to be admirers of Caicedo, yet it has been widely reported that the Merseyside giants will instead focus on trying to sign his Brighton teammate Alexis Mac Allister in a deal of similar value.