Caicedo twist
Chelsea look as though they could land both Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo despite Liverpool’s £110million agreement with Brighton for the latter.
Jurgen Klopp even confirmed that Liverpool had agreed a deal but in a stunning turn of events his team could now leave the race for Caicedo entirely, as per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
Despite Liverpool’s triple-figure bid, Chelsea were still confident they could sign Caicedo and a new bid is now being prepared which will be a drastic improvement on their last few offers.
According to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth, the offer could be as high as £115million which would break the club-record £105million deal that saw Enzo Fernandez join from Benfica earlier this year.
Lavia battle
football.london has been told Chelsea are ‘seriously moving’ for Romeo Lavia from Southampton as well as Moises Caicedo, who they are now expecting to sign.
Liverpool were firmly placed as frontrunners to add the teenager to their midfield but Chelsea could now swoop in and complete a transfer hijack with a bid on the table that trumps Liverpool’s highest offer. football.london understands the proposal on the table is £52million plus a further £3million in add-ons.
Lavia was the recipient of a late summer bid 12 months ago from Chelsea but it was swiftly rejected by Southampton. However with former Saints chief Joe Shields, who brought Lavia to St Mary’s, now in west London Chelsea have returned for the midfielder.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has chosen his replacement for Riyad Mahrez to hand Chelsea a major transfer boost. The Blues had identified several attacking targets they could sign this summer with Rayan Cherki, Mohammed Kudus and Michael Olise as three options with the latter also of interest to Man City.
Contact has already been made between Chelsea and Olise’s entourage and football.london understands the French winger is keen on moving to west London. With the advantage already seeming with Chelsea, a further boost to their transfer hopes has been provided by Man City.
As per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Man City have been working on a deal to sign Jeremy Doku from Stade Rennais for a number of weeks with him and Lucas Paqueta as their next priorities. Olise and the Belgium international were both options for Guardiola, but a move for Doku moving quickly, with terms on the personal side advancing, seems to have handed Chelsea the incentive to move for Olise. According to The Telegraph, the French club value him between €50million (£43.1million) and €60million (£51.8million).
Alan Shearer predicts Liverpool, Man Utd and Newcastle’s exact Premier League finishes
Alan Shearer has tipped Liverpool to finish third in the 2023-24 Premier League season.
The Reds bring the curtain up on the campaign with a trip to Chelsea on Sunday. Certainly, Kopites will be for much better fortunes than 2022-23. Liverpool underwhelmed for the vast majority and finished a disappointing fifth place – surrendering their Champions League spot in the process.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Liverpool look ‘reloaded’ and mean business heading into the upcoming term. During the summer transfer window, the Reds have signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai for a combined fee of £95 million. They have also agreed a £111 million fee with Brighton for Moises Caicedo, although Chelsea are still in the reckoning, while Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have left.
In a Q&A with The Athletic, Shearer reckons that the Reds’ potency in attack will be enough to finish ahead of Manchester United and Newcastle United – but finish below Manchester City and Arsenal.
He said: “I think Pep with his hunger and drive will get City firing again. Arsenal haven’t spent all that money to finish fifth, but I think they will. Do they have enough options up front?
“I think Liverpool will outscore other teams going forward even if they have to improve a lot at the back. Manchester United, I think they’ve done decent business. I also hope I’m wrong and a team in black and white pips them to the top-four.”