Another former Chelsea player said that Moises Caicedo had his “best game in a Chelsea shirt” over the weekend. Caicedo is starting to play like N’Golo Kante.
Liverpool and Chelsea were both interested in signing Caicedo in the summer of 2023, after he had made a name for himself as a top Premier League player with Brighton. Liverpool then agreed to a club-record £111 million deal with Brighton to get Caicedo, but he did not end up going to Anfield.
The star player from Ecuador turned down Liverpool’s offers because he was determined to keep his word and join Chelsea. He then signed with Chelsea for a base price of £100 million, which could go up to £115 million through add-ons.
But Caicedo had a tough first season at Stamford Bridge, as did a number of other new players signed by Chelsea during the Todd Boehly era.
People were confused about why Chelsea paid so much for him because he didn’t look like the player who had been so good for Brighton.
The 22-year-old did get better near the end of last season, though, and he is now doing great under new Emery Maresca.
Chelsea beat their London rivals West Ham United 3-0 on Saturday, thanks in large part to another great game from Caicedo.
His pass completion rate was 89%, he made eight stops, won 13 duels, and set up one big chance.
John Obi Mikel praises Moises Caicedo for his work at Chelsea.
John Obi Mikel has now given Caicedo a lot of respect and said that he is like Kante, who was the Premier League player of the season in 2016.
There was a question on the expert’s Obi One show about whether it was Caicedo’s best game for Chelsea. “Yeah, he was everywhere,” Mikel said.
“We talked about Moises Caicedo and how much we thought…” Of course, he didn’t get off to a great start with Chelsea, and he made a lot of mistakes in his first few games.
It was a question of why we spent so much money on this guy. Now we can see those efforts he was giving at Brighton and other places, so he was a truly great player.
“Everywhere on Saturday.” Not only stopping the play, but also trying to connect it, passes, and everything else.
“Now you can tell this is the Moises Caicedo we all know, and you can also tell there’s a bit of confidence in him when you watch him or look at him now.”
“I feel like, ‘Okay, now I play for Chelsea Football Club, this is my team.'” Through his plays and the way he acts on the field, there is no ego at all… Right on!
“He’s just amazing. I saw him there and everywhere else.” There are some similarities between Moises’ play and Kante’s. Credit to both him and his boss for having faith in him so much.
Mikel added, “Now he’s paid off with his play, and I think this is the guy who will become captain of the team in the future.”
Caicedo is back to his best, which will make Chelsea fans happy because it shows why the club spent so much money on him. Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, and Raheem Sterling are some other signings that haven’t lived up to their hype, but Caicedo looks like he will be a key part of the Maresca project.
It’s not unlikely that Caicedo will soon become an official member of Chelsea’s leadership team, as Mikel points out. The captain of Chelsea right now is Reece James, but he has been hurt a lot lately.
Chelsea is still interested in Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres because they need an experienced striker.
Right now, No. 9 Nicholas Jackson has had a great start to the season, but some people aren’t sure if he has what it takes to become a truly great goal maker.
