Liverpool have joined a plethora of European outfits in monitoring the progress of Brighton’s Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo.
What’s the word?
That is according to a report from 90min who claim that Liverpool are keeping tabs on the 20-year-old’s progress and join the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus and Atletico Madrid in doing so.
As per the report, Brighton have no intention of selling the midfielder this summer, having already sanctioned deals for two of their key players in Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella.
The 23-cap Ecuador international Caicedo started the last eight Premier League games of last season, scoring his first goal in England’s top-flight in that game-span. He has since brought that form into the new campaign having started and shone in both games against Manchester United and Newcastle United.
The next Kante
As such a well-rounded asset with elite physicality and work-rate, it is fair to say that Caicedo is a footballer in a similar mould to that of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante.
Over the last calendar year, the 20-year-old has actually put up greater metrics than the 31-year-old France midfielder.
Caicedo’s ingenuity as a ball-winner cannot be understated, with his average of 3.00 tackles and 11.79 ball recoveries per 90 underlining his defensive mindset. In comparison, Kante puts up an average of 2.77 tackles per game and achieves around 8.88 recoveries per game.
The Brighton star could offer Klopp greater depth in the engine room, versatility and tactical flexibility, with his ball-winning attributes strong enough to see him trusted as one of two central midfielders in Brighton’s 3-4-2-1 system – a system that requires utmost ability in both phases of the game.
Caicedo, at his point in his career, seems like a complete team player who is willing to do the dirty work in order to allow his teammates to thrive. You get the feeling that he “will turn into a world class player”, as stated by Ecuador national team manager Gustavo Alfaro.
And given Jurgen Klopp’s track record in developing talent, this could happen sooner rather than later if he was to join the FSG-run project.
