Chelsea's
£70m bid for Moises Caicedo has been "rejected out of hand" by Brighton.
One source has told Sky Sports News that Brighton value Caicedo, who was
signed from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle for £4.5m in 2021, in
the same bracket as Arsenal's record-signing Declan Rice and will look to
get in the region of £100m for him.
Chelsea are considering whether to go back in with another offer with talks
ongoing between the two clubs for the midfielder.
Sky Sports News has been told Chelsea will be "disciplined" and have
interests in other players.
It is thought Chelsea are getting encouragement that the 21-year-old would
join them if a deal can be agreed between the clubs, with personal terms not
expected to be a problem.
Chelsea were interested in signing the Ecuador international in January,
while Arsenal had two bids rejected. Caicedo ended up signing a new deal
with Brighton once the winter transfer window had closed.
Chelsea face Brighton in the USA Summer Series on July 22 in Philadelphia.
'Every player has his price - but Caicedo
will leave on Brighton's terms'
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"As far as Brighton are concerned, the player has only recently signed a new
long-term contract and isn't for sale.
"Obviously, every player has a price, and as far as they're concerned, they
looked at the fact that Enzo Fernandez went for £106m, and Declan Rice for
£105m.
"They think if those two are worth that much, then Caicedo is worth at least
£100m as well. It'll be interesting to see what Chelsea do now, whether they
walk away and look at other targets, or whether they come back in with
another bid.
"Brighton don't want to lose him, but you know how well the club is run -
they've already signed two midfielders this summer, and will have prepared
for the fact he is going to leave eventually. They would let him go, but
only on their terms."
Analysis: From tearful teen to in-demand
star
In the wake of his country's World Cup exit last year, when other players
were jetting off to high-end holiday resorts, Moises Caicedo was back in
Santa Domingo, Ecuador, playing in a local tournament on the same dusty
pitch he used as a boy.
In footage which went viral in the country, Caicedo, a rising star in the
Premier League who had just become Ecuador's youngest scorer at a World Cup,
can be seen finding the net again, only this time as a ringer for Caicedos
FC, a team made up of extended family members.
His goal, slotted in at the near post in ramshackle surroundings, helped
Caicedos FC win the tournament and was celebrated with a leap, a fist pump,
and a gesture of recognition to the few hundred spectators sitting or
leaning on fences around the pitch.
"This is Moises," Miguel Angel Ramirez, Caicedo's former coach at his
boyhood club Independiente del Valle, tells Sky Sports with a smile. "Going
back to his village, to his family, his friends, playing football, helping
everyone there. He doesn't forget his people..."
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