Moises
Caicedo has completed his medical at Chelsea as he nears a British record
£115m switch from Brighton.
Caicedo arrived at the Chelsea training ground for his medical on Monday
morning and completed that part of the process at lunchtime.
The Blues are understood to be paying an initial £100m, plus £15m in
performance-related add-ons.
The midfielder will sign an eight-year contract, with the option of a
further year.
Brighton will have a sell-on clause that has been described as "significant"
as part of the £115m deal to sell Caicedo.
Half of the add-ons have been described as "quite easily achievable", while
the other half are considered "much harder" to achieve.
Liverpool agreed a £111m deal to sign Caicedo last week but the move fell
through when the 21-year-old informed the club he intended to join Chelsea.
Caicedo had been expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday
after Jurgen Klopp's side had a bid accepted by Brighton following a
midnight deadline for bids on Thursday.
But the Ecuador international had a change of heart and told Liverpool - who
drew 1-1 at Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season on
Sunday - he did not want to join.
"I'm desperate for him to come to Liverpool as the need for him there is
probably greater," said Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher. "It's going to be a big
blow."
Caicedo instead remained in London and made it clear he only wanted to leave
Brighton for Chelsea, who have been pursuing him all summer.
The £115m fee eclipses the £106.8m Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez when
breaking the British-record transfer fee in January. Arsenal spent £105m on
Declan Rice earlier in the summer.
Chelsea want to sign two midfielders this summer and are still pushing to
sign Southampton's Romeo Lavia despite Liverpool agreeing a £60m deal for
the Belgian.
Liverpool agree £60m Lavia deal but
Chelsea still in pursuit
Liverpool have agreed a deal with Southampton for Romeo Lavia, Sky Sports
News understands.
However, Chelsea are still pushing to sign Lavia and had been close to an
agreement with Saints late last week.
Sources have told Sky Sports News that the total package agreed between
Liverpool and Southampton on Sunday night is worth £60m.
Southampton had been holding firm on their £50m valuation of 19-year-old
Lavia. Chelsea had made an offer of £48m last week, while Liverpool had seen
three previous offers turned down this summer.
Chelsea's pursuit of Lavia is independent of the Moises Caicedo deal.
How much have Chelsea spent?
Chelsea have now splashed a league-topping £285.9m this summer and Caicedo
becomes the club's 10th signing of the window, having also signed
Christopher Nkunku (£52m), Axel Disasi (£38.8m), Nicolas Jackson (£32m),
Robert Sanchez (£25m), Lesley Ugochukwu (£23.1m), Angelo Gabriel, Ishe
Samuels-Smith, Diego Moreira and Alex Matos (all undisclosed).
Last season, the Blues splashed a record-breaking £601.7m across both
transfer windows on new signings and only recouped £61m from player sales -
but the club has balanced the books so far this season.
Mauricio Pochettino's side have cashed in £232.3m in this window, selling
Kai Havertz (£65m), Mason Mount (£60m), Mateo Kovacic (£30m), Christian
Pulisic (£18.8m), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£18.5m), Kalidou Koulibaly (£17m),
Edouard Mendy (£16m) and Ethan Ampadu (£7m).
As it stands, all those deals place Chelsea ninth in the table for net
spend.
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