Fabrizio Romano has cited Liverpool’s unsuccessful pursuit of now-Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo as the ‘craziest saga’ of the summer transfer window.
A frantic 48-hour period on the opening weekend of the Premier League season saw the Reds agree a £111m deal with his then-employers Brighton, as subsequently confirmed by Jurgen Klopp (BBC Sport).
However, it soon emerged that the 21-year-old’s preference was a move to west London, and with the Blues duly offering £115m for him (The Telegraph), they eventually prevailed in a chaotic transfer race.
Reflecting on the summer window in his Daily Briefing for Caught Offside, Romano claimed: “Caicedo… was probably the craziest saga of the summer, though there were a lot to choose from. He was almost a Liverpool player for maybe 12 hours, as everything was agreed with Brighton.
“It was done, they were preparing documents and waiting for the player to travel for medical tests and complete what would have been a club-record signing for Liverpool. It was really close, but then Caicedo decided in a strong way and sent a clear message that he preferred to go to Chelsea.
“It was a big surprise because Liverpool were expecting Caicedo to join, and Jurgen Klopp even mentioned the deal being close in a press conference. So to see something like that is unusual in the transfer market and it was not easy to report on for those 48 hours.”
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Thinking back to that opening week of the season when Liverpool went from looking like they’d got their man before he abruptly threw a spanner in the works by stating his preference for Chelsea, it’s telling that Romano dubbed it the craziest transfer saga of a wild summer dominated by Saudi Pro League plot twists.
It felt like a hammer blow for the Reds at the time, as they’d only signed two players at that point and were still desperately seeking a defensive midfield replacement for Fabinho. It also came on the eve of them travelling to Stamford Bridge for their first match of the Premier League campaign.
However, in proof positive that three-and-a-half weeks can seem like an eternity in football, LFC supporters will probably feel a whole lot better about their lot now compared to their west London counterparts.
While Liverpool subsequently brought in two more players to strengthen their CDM options and started the season with 10 points from a possible 12, Chelsea have only garnered four points from as many games, with the expensive Ecuadorian giving away a costly penalty on his debut for the club.
Hindsight is 20/20 vision, of course, but it’s hard not to break into a wry smile when looking at how our summer transfer activity has turned out so far in comparison to that conducted by Mauricio Pochettino and Todd Boehly in the capital.
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Not to mention the mistake that lead to Nottingham Forest’s goal.
I have to speculate that you have to look at Brighton players in how they perform for both club and country. De Zerbi is a brilliant manager, but he dictates the play in the midfield like learning 20 different chess openings. I predict Caicedo will come good, but such a high transfer fee puts a ton of pressure on both the coach and player.