“I have already forgotten”- PL manager aims dig at Liverpool and Chelsea midfield target

Roberto de Zerbi aims dig at Moises Caicedo amid Liverpool and Chelsea links

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has fired a bit of a dig at Moises Caicedo ahead of the midfielder’s imminent departure from the club with his links to both, Liverpool and Chelsea.

In his press conference ahead of the start of the new Premier League season, De Zerbi didn’t mince his words when asked about Caicedo. Here is what he had to say to Italian reporters via ECHO:

“I have already forgotten about Moises. I’m really proud of the players we have in the squad.

“We have to complete the squad. We want to improve the squad because we lost Mac Allister, Colwill, maybe we lose Caicedo, but we have to be ready.”

Caicedo sees himself linked with a move to Liverpool, as well as Chelsea, and his departure from Brighton is imminent. The saga surrounding Caicedo began earlier today when Brighton accepted a Liverpool record bid worth £110m for Caicedo, only for the Ecuadorian to say that he’d rather prefer a move to Chelsea, who have been in the race for him for a prolonged period of time.

De Zerbi’s comments suggest that he is not too concerned about losing the midfielder and that Brighton will be looking to move on and improve their squad without him.

What next for Caicedo?

Time will tell where Caicedo will end up, but his potential move to Liverpool would bring him a sense of familiarity. We got on board Alexis Mac Allister from the Seagulls as well, and both these players played a vital role in Brighton’s run to a Europa League spot last season.

Liverpool’s summer signings, Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai combined with the potential addition of Caicedo would have been a great midfield trio for the Reds. However, given his interest to join Chelsea, there is no point in pursuing a player who wants to join a different team. As Johan Cruyff once said in reference to Barcelona, “If you have second thoughts about playing for us, you are no longer of service to us”.

Make what you will of De Zerbi’s comments, but it doesn’t seem like Liverpool now hold a real chance when it comes to having Caicedo on board.

More Liverpool News

• Harvey Elliott previews Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Liverpool
• Liverpool are planning a transfer hijack to sign Chelsea target Moises Caicedo
• Thiago focused on Liverpool amid Al Ahli rumours

Whether or not Caicedo joins Liverpool is one thing now. If he does not, we are now aware that we have about £110m in funds available for a transfer. Go out there and buy a decent midfielder alongside a left-sided centre-back and the depth issues at hand will cease to exist.