Mauricio Pochettino has discussed Moises Caicedo’s progress at Chelsea as the midfielder prepares to face former club Brighton this weekend.
Chelsea signed Caicedo in a deal which could reach a British transfer record £115m last summer, after the Ecuadorian’s exciting emergence at Brighton.
The midfielder has made a mixed start to his career in west London, but Pochettino has called for patience with the 22-year-old and has called Caicedo’s development ‘a process’. Caicedo will take on his former club, Brighton, for the first time in the Premier League on Sunday.
“I think it’s a process. The temptation is to analyse and compare a player from one season to another when it’s not fair,” Pochettino said at his pre-match press conference.
“It’s a different environment, different moment, how the situation is now.
“He arrived when we were already playing games in the Premier League, with no pre-season. It’s an emotional situation that happened with him. Then he got injured with his national team and has had no time to rest or recover.
“Now we have a couple of months for players to rest and play and to be focussed on Chelsea. It’s unfair to compare players from one season to another.”
On this weekend’s opponents, Pochettino added:”They’re doing a fantastic job. They are a very good team, with a very good coaching staff. I know Roberto [de Zerbi] very well and I think he’s doing a fantastic job.”
