Chelsea Football Club is said to have agreed a British record fee of 115 million euros for the transfer of midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton. The deal surpasses the previous record set by Chelsea when they signed World Cup winner Fernandez from Benfica for €106.5 million in January 2023. The Blues are expected to pay the fee. initial €100 million, along with an additional €15 million related to performance. .
Moises Caicedo, born 2 November 2001, is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who has made a name for himself as a defensive midfielder. Before moving to Brighton, he played for Ecuadorian Serie A side Independiente del Valle. He joined Brighton in February 2021 for a fee of €4 million and made his Premier League debut in April 2022.
Caicedo has four years left to complete his contract with Brighton but has told the club he wants to leave and has made it clear he would rather go to Stamford Bridge than Anfield. He joined Brighton in February 2021 for a fee of £4.5 million ($5.71 million) before being loaned to Belgian club Beerschot in August of the same year. After 14 appearances in Belgium, he was recalled by Brighton in January 2022. Caicedo flourished in midfield last season under manager Roberto De Zerbi. Caicedo's trip to Chelsea was not without competition. Liverpool had previously agreed a transfer fee of 111 million euros with Brighton for Caicedo, which would break the British transfer fee record. However, Chelsea outbid Liverpool, offering a premium of 115 million euros including additional terms.
This transfer marks an important step in the process of setting the transfer fee record of English football. The first three-digit transfer fee was ã100 paid by Aston Villa in 1893 to Willie Groves. Over the years, this record has been broken many times, most recently Fernandez was bought by Chelsea in 2023.
