Chelsea fresh Moises Caicedo bid ‘immediately rejected’ as Pochettino frustrated

Football Digest: Pochettino ruthlessly exiles three players from Chelsea HQ

Chelsea have seen a new bid for Moises Caicedo turned down by Brighton as Mauricio Pochettino has once again been delayed in bringing his top target to Stamford Bridge this summer. The Blues launched an improved offer for the Ecuadorian after re-entering talks with their Premier League counterparts, only to see it ‘immediately rejected’ as the South Coast outfit are determined to hold firm with their asking price.

Chelsea’s first offer of around £70million with add-ons was quickly rebuffed by Brighton earlier in July, and according to Fabrizio Romano, their transfer chiefs have put together a new proposal – which was submitted on Thursday – for around £80m.

However, the Seagulls have ‘immediately’ rejected their new bid, with talks set to continue between the two parties.

Pochettino is keen to bring in a player with Premier League experience to add pace, power and precision to his midfield, with Conor Gallagher likely to be heading out the door.

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Caicedo is seen as the perfect partner for Enzo Fernandez for the long-term, but Brighton value the midfielder at around £100million and are not willing to budge from their demands.

Roberto De Zerbi had previously admitted he had given his word to Caicedo to let him leave this summer if their asking price was met, but the Italian is now preparing for the 21-year-old as part of his plans for the upcoming Premier League campaign.

And that will leave Pochettino even more frustrated, as the Argentinian complained that his squad was unbalanced just two weeks before the season starts with 29 players on their tour of the USA. The Chelsea boss wants “22 to 24 players” on his roster – and Caicedo is one of them.

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Pochettino has already stated the need for more experience in his Chelsea squad, and the failure to land Caicedo in time for pre-season has left the ex-Spurs boss, 51, feeling exasperated.

“We need at least one more [midfielder] and we are working on that,” he told reporters before their 1-1 friendly draw with Newcastle. “It depends on what happens in the next few weeks. We will decide and take our decision.”

“At the moment, we are working to reinforce that area, and other areas also. I think the players that are here on the tour are in our plans, Chelsea’s plans. We are working very hard to try to add more players in different areas and hope that is possible soon.”

Brighton have used Chelsea’s interest in Caicedo as a bargaining tool in their own attempts to sign Levi Colwill, who spent last season on loan at the Amex Stadium. Chelsea have insisted Colwill is not for sale, but De Zerbi believes there could be an opportunity where the pair could swap clubs.

“At the moment Moises is a Brighton player. I spoke with Tony Bloom and he told me if the conditions don’t change, Moises stays with us,” he said. “For me it should be great news because it is difficult to find another player like Moises.”

He later added: “There are two questions. Not only about Caicedo, also about Colwill, and maybe it can be [a swap]. I would like to play with Caicedo and Colwill together but at the moment I can only speak about Caicedo as Colwill is not one of my players.”

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