The midfielder has been Ecuador’s best player. They need him at his best against Argentina in the quarter-finals
By Ben McAleer for WhoScored
The pressure was on Moisés Caicedo to make an immediate impact following his big-money move last summer. Chelsea were hellbent on signing the midfielder and finally landed their man in August for a British record fee of £115m. Given the constant uncertainty at the club, though, a seamless transition from Brighton to the Blues was always going to be easier said than done.
To say Caicedo struggled in his opening months would be an understatement. As Christmas approached, Chelsea were in the bottom half of the table and it looked as if they had blown a fortune on Caicedo and his midfield partner Enzo Fernández, who was slow to adapt to the Premier League after his £106.8m move from Benfica. Liverpool had tried to sign Caicedo, offering Brighton £111m, and their fans were celebrating that he had turned them down. Jürgen Klopp also sounded relieved, saying: “Other central defensive midfielders didn’t want to join Liverpool. My god, we were lucky.”
Continue reading…The midfielder has been Ecuador’s best player. They need him at his best against Argentina in the quarter-finalsBy Ben McAleer for WhoScoredThe pressure was on Moisés Caicedo to make an immediate impact following his big-money move last summer. Chelsea were hellbent on signing the midfielder and finally landed their man in August for a British record fee of £115m. Given the constant uncertainty at the club, though, a seamless transition from Brighton to the Blues was always going to be easier said than done.To say Caicedo struggled in his opening months would be an understatement. As Christmas approached, Chelsea were in the bottom half of the table and it looked as if they had blown a fortune on Caicedo and his midfield partner Enzo Fernández, who was slow to adapt to the Premier League after his £106.8m move from Benfica. Liverpool had tried to sign Caicedo, offering Brighton £111m, and their fans were celebrating that he had turned them down. Jürgen Klopp also sounded relieved, saying: “Other central defensive midfielders didn’t want to join Liverpool. My god, we were lucky.” Continue reading…