Chelsea are “on the brink” of sensationally beating Liverpool to the signing of Moises Caicedo.
In what has been one of the biggest transfer sagas in Premier League history, The Telegraph claims that “a deal is close to being fully agreed” between the Blues and Brighton.
The deal will reportedly see Chelsea pay a British record transfer fee of £115 million, edging out the £111m bid that Liverpool made earlier this week.
The Reds had appeared to win the race for Caicedo’s signature after Brighton accepted their offer. However, the player is understood to prefer a move to Stamford Bridge.
That gave Chelsea the opportunity to return to the negotiating and convince the Seagulls to do a deal for the Ecuadorian international. The 21-year-old is in line to sign a long-term contract.
The west London outfit made Caicedo their primary target in the summer transfer window and had several bids for the player turned down before Liverpool entered the race.
To add to the sense of drama, the two clubs face each other at the Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday.
When asked about the transfer this week, Pochettino refused to discuss the Caicedo deal.
“You know me very well, I never talk about a player that doesn’t belong to us,” the Argentine said during his pre-match press conference.
“We are working very hard to add players of quality to the squad. At the moment, I don’t want to talk about players who don’t belong to us. We are working very hard, I am so happy with how we are doing things.”
Meanwhile, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said that he has “already forgotten” about Caicedo as the new season begins.
“I’m really proud of the players we have in the squad. We want to keep improving. The credit goes to the club. Bigger clubs can buy our players but they can’t buy our soul or spirit.”
