Chelsea "aren't going to give up" on signing Moises Caicedo this summer despite their most recent offer being rejected by Brighton & Hove Albion, and are quite "relaxed" about the deal, claims Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
Is Moises Caicedo joining Chelsea this summer?
As it is every year, Stamford Bridge has once again become one of the epicentres for the summer transfer window this year; from selling a swathe of first-team players to signing a handful of promising youngsters, it's been all hands on deck in west London so far.
Over the last month or so, one of the biggest stories involving the Blues has been the transfer saga concerning Brighton's exciting Ecuadorian midfielder Caicedo and their persistence to sign him.
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According to football.london, Mauricio Pochettino's side have made four separate bids for the 21-year-old this month, with the first being worth around £65m plus £5m in add-ons – and the most recent being in the region of £80m.
The Seagulls have rejected these offers as they value their star at close to £100m – a price that reflects the sale of the positionally similar Declan Rice earlier in the window.
Although it looks like this reluctance to sell might now be an issue for the south-coast club, The Times has reported that the player has asked the club to reduce his valuation as he has made his desire to leave clear to the board.
Perhaps this is why the two-time European champions are still "relaxed" about the whole saga and have decided to maintain their pursuit of the dynamic midfielder, according to reporter Sheth.
He explained the current situation on Sky Sports News late on Friday, saying:
"[Roberto De Zerbi] is not ruling out Caicedo leaving, even though Brighton have rejected Chelsea's latest bid of £80m. Now, immediately after that, we were told that there are no active talks now between the two clubs and Chelsea are deciding what they're going to do.
"The information that I have is that Chelsea aren't going to give up just yet on Moises Caicedo. Talks are continuing behind the scenes at Chelsea just to decide what their next move is going to be – and if they are going to go in with another offer, how much that offer is going to be.
"They've been quite comfortable and relaxed about how they've approached this deal and how much they've been offering Brighton for Caicedo, £80m is not to be sneezed at."
Who else are Chelsea linked to this summer?
While the Blues' attention certainly seems to be focused primarily on securing the Brighton man's signature this summer, being unable to land any other targets would be a failure on the club's part, but luckily for fans, there are still a host of other stars touted for a move to west London over the next month or so.
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Chelsea are "close" to agreeing personal terms with Ajax star Mohammed Kudus – a situation that puts them ahead of cross-city rivals Arsenal, who are also said to be interested in the Ghanaian.
The 22-year-old had a brilliant season for the Amsterdam club last year, scoring 11 goals and providing three assists in just 19 starts in the Eredivisie, and averaging a seriously impressive match rating of 7.29, per WhoScored.
With Jacobs reporting that a deal for the positionally versatile attacker is expected to cost somewhere in the region of £40m, it seems too good to pass up if the Blues can get it over the line.
If Pochettino was to have both Caicedo and Kudus at his disposal next season, Champions League football could be coming back to west London once again in the 2024/25 season.