Chelsea's $146 million rookie is criticized for being incomplete
"It's basically $146 million for an unfinished player," Sutton told Sport Mail on August 14. "This is also a lot of money for a defensive midfielder. In the next few seasons, if Chelsea win the Champions League and the Premier League, you can say Caicedo is worth the money. But I'm not sure about that."
In 1994, Sutton set an English football transfer record when he joined Blackburn Rovers from Norwich for $6.4 million. After nearly three decades, he marvels at the level of inflation in the player market. The former England striker thinks that, if placed in the present time, former Man Utd midfielder Roy Keane would cost twice as much as Caicedo.
Regarding Caicedo's decision to ignore Liverpool to choose Chelsea, Sutton also did not support. He believes that joining the fifth-ranked team in the Premier League last season will give a higher chance of success than the team that fell to 12th and is rebuilding from scratch. "During 1993-1994, Blackburn competed for the top spot in the Premier League with Man Utd. That's why I went to Blackburn and we won the next season," Sutton said.
According to the former England striker, Caicedo joined Chelsea because of Mauricio Pochettino. The former Tottenham manager considers the 21-year-old Ecuadorian midfielder a player who can take Chelsea to the next level and decides to buy it. In addition, Pochettino's personal prestige and ability to develop young players are also attractive factors for Caicedo.
In the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on August 13, even without the addition of Caicedo, the Chelsea midfield overwhelmed the opponent. Meanwhile, the failure to buy the Ecuadorian defensive midfielder made Liverpool have problems in intercepting from a distance. Previously, the Anfield team sold both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
"I have to say, in the Chelsea draw, Liverpool's midfield problem looked pretty big," said Sutton. "The Liverpool defense is regularly attacked and that weakness remains unresolved."
On August 13, Chelsea reached an agreement to buy Caicedo for an English football record price, 146 million USD, from Brighton. Previously, the two sides had agreed to a price of 127 million, but Liverpool jumped in to pay 139 million. Brighton made a profit of 141 million, after deducting the fee to buy Caicedo two years ago from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle.
In the first half of the 2021-2022 season, Caicedo went to Belgium to play for Beerschot on loan, before being called back by Brighton in January 2022. The 21-year-old midfielder started playing regularly from the 2022-2023 season, with 43 matches in all competitions. In January 2023, Brighton rejected Arsenal's offer to buy Caicedo for $ 90 million.
Caicedo played for the Ecuadorian team at the age of 18. He has played 32 international matches, scoring three goals, participating in Copa America 2021 and World Cup 2022.
