Moises Caicedo has seemingly rejected the chance to join Liverpool and wants to move to Chelsea, despite the Reds agreeing a British-record £111m fee with Brighton.
Liverpool’s offer was accepted by Brighton after a midnight deadline for bids for the midfielder was set on Thursday. It is understood Chelsea were prepared to go to £100m for the player.
However, although Caicedo was expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday, he remains in London and has made it clear he only wants to leave Brighton for Chelsea, who have been pursuing him all summer.
Chelsea are yet to offer a new improved bid.
“I have already forgotten about Moises,” Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi said. “I’m really proud of the players we have in the squad. Bigger clubs can buy our players but they can’t buy our soul or spirit.”
Liverpool formally submitted their proposal late on Thursday night after Caicedo seemingly indicated his willingness to move to Anfield.
“The fee with the club is agreed,” confirmed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Friday. “We will see what that means. We aren’t a club with endless resources and we didn’t expect a couple of things to happen this summer. Then it happened.”
As reported by Sky Sports News, Liverpool were locked in discussions with Brighton to ascertain all the financial parameters of doing a deal in case Chelsea couldn’t or wouldn’t reach an agreement.
Liverpool were informed just after midnight that they were indeed the highest bidders.
Brighton signed Caicedo for £4.5m from Independiente del Valle in 2021.
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