According to official tourism websites, Ecuador is the land of four worlds: the Amazon jungle, the Galapagos Islands, the Pacific Coast, and the Andes Mountains. It is also the birthplace of the man who is on the verge of breaking the UK transfer record, Moises Caicedo.
Born in the tropical city of Santo Domingo, Caicedo saw little of what the rest of the country or even the rest of the world had to offer for the first 14 years of his life. But that’s where the journey to become a £111 million player began, via Belgium and Brighton.
Caicedo is the youngest of 10 siblings and so had to grow up quickly. In the dusty, makeshift fields where targets were marked with stones, the Ecuadorian was often kicked around by children twice his size. In a 2018 interview, he said, “I learned how to play hard.”
On one such day, a youth coach, Ivan Guerra, stumbled upon Caicedo fumbling with the ball in the street and was surprised by his technique and ambidextrousness. He gave him a chance on his community team where he was scouted for a police academy called Espoli.
That break gave Caicedo, who likes to be nicknamed ‘El Nino Moi’ or ‘little boy Moi’, his chance to play in the capital Quito. In terms of elevation, Quito is the highest capital city in the world after La Paz, Bolivia, which could explain its unique stamina and engine.
Moises Caicedo will become the sixth most expensive player of all time when he is likely to complete a transfer to Chelsea
The player joined Independiente del Valle’s academy in 2016 and went on to play for both their youth side – with whom he won the U20 Copa Libertadores – and the senior team.
That year, the then 18-year-old received his first call-up to the Ecuadorian national team
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It was in Quito that the midfielder signed for Independiente del Valle, where he went on to win the Under 20 Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League equivalent, and was spotted by guru Paul Winstanley, then part of Brighton’s world-famous scouting network.
That quickly brings us to the present. Winstanley is now at Chelsea, one of many people – players, managers and staff – who have moved from Brighton to Stamford Bridge in the past 18 months. Will Caicedo be next?
Despite Liverpool accepting a record £111 million UK bid in the early hours of Friday, and Jurgen Klopp taking the rare step to confirm the club’s deal had been finalized, Caicedo had long looked destined to join Chelsea and was always in favor of a move there over Anfield. .
But wherever he ends up, one thing is certain: the boy from those dusty fields in Santo Domingo is European football’s most wanted midfielder. Arsenal tried but failed in January, while Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich are now all keen.
So, is he worth such an eye-popping fee? In layman’s terms, no – how can he be after just 18 months in the Premier League? – but when you consider the seismic season-defining impact he could have on Chelsea or Liverpool, it’s hard to argue otherwise.
Caicedo is fast, mobile and tough. He can play in multiple positions from midfield to full-back and is adept with an accurate range of passing. Studying footage from last season, it is clear that he has an expertise in position play without possession.
Citing N’Golo Kante as an idol, Moises Caicedo is an elite ball winner with boundless energy
Mauricio Pochettino’s side appeared to have won the race to sign the 21-year-old midfielder
Citing N’Golo Kante as an idol, Caicedo is an elite ball winner with boundless energy, though always available for a pass and comfortable in tight spaces. He could transform the midfield – and with it the chances of the whole team – of Liverpool or Chelsea.
He did not move straight to European football, and his loan spell at Beerschot in Belgium would have been somewhat disappointing. But once he started playing regularly under Graham Potter in Brighton, it was clear he was a star in the making.
Amidst the saga and poker game of those two clubs, Tony Bloom is a man who emerges with a world of credit. It’s hard to imagine a man who controls the transfer market as much as Brighton’s chairman. He signed Caicedo just two summers ago for £4.5 million.
Caicedo dedicates all his successes to his mother, Carmen. In his very first Instagram post, when he signed for Independiente, he wrote, “Parents will be proud one day, I promise.” They were then, and they certainly will be now – wherever ‘little boy Moi’ ends up.