>
When he was even younger than now, Moisés Caicedo’s great hope was to play for Manchester United.
Having grown up dreaming of following in the footsteps of Antonio Valencia, who flew the Ecuadorian flag while representing the club at Old Trafford, United were Caicedo’s favorite team on PlayStation.
But when opportunity knocks, hopes and dreams can change.
Moises Caicedo will remain at Brighton, despite trying to force a move to Arsenal or Chelsea
Caicedo grew up dreaming of following in the footsteps of Man United star Antonio Valencia
That has been the case for the 21-year-old midfielder after serious interest arose in January from Chelsea and Arsenal.
Because throughout his short life until now and in his incipient career, Caicedo has suffered.
It is a recurring theme in the story of his life and part of the reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is also among his idols, because of the difficulties he overcame to become, along with N’Golo Kante, a great, more positional reference.
Just some of what Caicedo has endured to get to this point could explain why he has been so desperate to try to force a Brighton exit at the first possible opportunity.
His approach, a blanket plea on social media to leave the club that gave him a Premier League platform, has been deservedly criticized, a move that resulted in him being ordered to stay away from the club until after the January window, which closed at 11pm last night. .
The 21-year-old expressed his desire to leave Brighton in a social media post on Friday night.
However, on the other hand, perhaps some understanding can be found in his possible motives.
Unsure of what’s around the corner, will that opportunity present itself again?
His ability undoubtedly says so, especially if he continues to contribute to a brilliant Brighton side on an upward curve, even if everything else is out of his control.
What Caicedo definitely knows and will never forget is how close he felt he came to having his career taken from him.
Born in Santo Domingo, a few hours from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, Caicedo’s talent quickly became evident, the boy being referred to at home as ‘Moi’ and initially showing him off as a striker.
At the age of 13, he left his family behind for the first time, moved more than three hours away to Sangolquí and joined the Independiente del Valle academy, ranked by some as the best running club in South America.
At the age of 13, he left his family behind for the first time and moved more than three hours away to Sangolquí.
Caicedo’s career was on the right track, but he soon discovered how quickly one can go off the rails.
I think a lot about those moments in Independiente del Valle. There were times when I saw my dream far away, that being so young I was not going to achieve it,’ he reflected ahead of the World Cup.
Now I am enjoying it, but before enjoying it first I suffered a lot.
I had some tough times: a knee injury when I was 16 and I didn’t play for almost 10 months.
“I felt that everything was going to end, because the days went by and I saw that it was going to be very difficult to recover my level. I cried a lot.’
The midfielder captained IDV to Copa Libertadores U-20 glory in March 2020 at just 17 years old
Caicedo’s fears were finally allayed. His knee was fine. At the age of 17 he made his debut in the IDV first team.
In March 2020, he captained IDV to Copa Libertadores U-20 glory, and was so valuable to his club that he was flown between Quito and Paraguay to play with the youth and senior teams during the tournament.
Later that year, aged 18, Caicedo made his full international debut against Argentina before scoring a few days later against Uruguay to break Valencia’s record and become Ecuador’s youngest goalscorer.
Caicedo broke Antonio Valencia’s record and became the youngest goalscorer in Ecuador at just 18 years old
Such historic moments were indicators of the potential that had alerted clubs across Europe to the young midfielder as one of the greatest talents in South American football.
United considered a deal that would have made Caicedo’s dream come true, but ultimately deemed it too complicated to proceed.
But Brighton succeeded where they failed, initially creating more difficulties for Caicedo.
“When I went to Brighton I also suffered a lot because I came alone,” he told the Spanish newspaper AS. ‘It was another language, another food, another time zone. The weather was also very difficult for me. I wanted to go back, because I felt strange.
‘It was like being born again because I was in a place where I didn’t know anyone. It was very difficult for me to adjust to England. But now I can say that I can hold my own wherever I go in the language.’
Once again, Caicedo has prevailed through a short loan spell at Belgian club Beerschot.
“As he is showing today, he was very comfortable on the ball, had great vision on the pitch, combined defensive skills with attacking qualities,” Sander van Praet, former Beerschot technical director, told Sportsmail of Caicedo, whose memorable contributions included a man of the exhibition of the match against Genk in which he scored the winning goal.
‘He dominated the midfield [against Genk]. He is a very complete midfielder.
Caicedo had problems with the time zone, food and much more when he first arrived in Brighton
Along with God and his own strength of character, Caicedo credits his family, with whom he cried at the Quito airport before leaving to join Brighton, for their support through his difficult times.
As the youngest of 10 children, it’s a big family he belongs to, while the midfielder also referenced the “rude manner” he had on social media, a possible hint of a factor in his desire to make a lucrative move. .
“Family is very important to him,” Van Praet said. “We gave him a longer winter break so we could see his family for a couple more days, that was just before Brighton called him.”
Underlining that, Caicedo’s first Instagram post is a photo of him flanked by his mom and dad above the caption “the parents will be proud of me one day, I promise.”
That’s a dream he can continue to pursue, if he hasn’t already, wherever he plays his football.