Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has revealed that he persuaded Moises Caicedo to sign for the Blues instead of Liverpool during the summer.
The Reds had agreed a fee of £111m with Brighton to sign the Ecuador international (BBC Sport), but the west London outfit hijacked that deal with their own £115m offer and won the race for his signature (The Telegraph).
The 22-year-old’s fellow South American has said that it was he who intervened to try and persuade the £150,000-per-week powerhouse (Capology) to opt for Stamford Bridge over Anfield.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Big Interview (via Daily Mail), 2022 World Cup winner Fernandez said: “I called and told him that he had to accept and come because Chelsea is a great and ambitious club.
“I have to thank God for giving me the chance to play alongside him at Chelsea because we all know the great player he is, but he is also a fantastic person, so I’m thankful he chose Chelsea.”
Caicedo added: “It was a nice chat. I mean, the fact that a world champion was phoning you, one of the best midfielders in the world. Receiving that call was very nice and he convinced me to come here. He said it was a great club, that there are many young players, there was a togetherness here.”
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At the time of Caicedo’s move to Chelsea, it felt like a hammer blow for Liverpool to miss out on the Ecuadorian, with the Reds having been desperately trying to sign a defensive midfielder in the wake of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch subsequently came through the door at Anfield, although it’s Alexis Mac Allister who’s occupied the number 6 role for most of the season so far.
The £115m midfielder has had a decent if unspectacular start to life at Stamford Bridge, carving out a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s preferred starting XI but ranking just 11th in WhoScored‘s overall performance metrics among the Blues’ squad.
He cost more than three times what Liverpool paid to Bayern Munich for the Dutchman, who’s plundered two goals and two assists in his first 13 games for the Reds (Transfermarkt) and given some masterful performances.
It mightn’t have felt like it at the time, but Fernandez’s intervention to persuade Caicedo to join him at Chelsea may actually have been a blessing in disguise for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
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More to the point is that enzo didn’t want to play dm, so convinced him to come so he can move further forward….Good move!