Moises Caicedo ‘made it clear he was not willing to join Liverpool’ in talks with Brighton after a £111m fee was agreed, reveals their CEO Paul Barber – and warns Man United over the date they could sell Evan Ferguson

Brighton CEO Paul Barber admitted the Seagulls were surprised that Moises Caicedo decided not to move to Liverpool, before sealing a UK record £115 million transfer to Chelsea instead.

The Caicedo saga is one of the most important stories of the summer, with Liverpool and Chelsea battling for the Ecuadorian’s signature for several weeks.

Both clubs need a defensive midfielder as they make their own squad overhauls, but the Blues eventually won the battle for the ex-Brighton star, confirming the deal on Monday.

Liverpool had already agreed a UK record £111 million fee for the Blues’ attack, and Barber told talkSPORT on Tuesday about the difficulties of shifting their focus from negotiating such a price with one team to doing exactly the same with another in quick succession.

“Liverpool are a fantastic club – you would imagine someone running up the M6 ​​for the chance to play at Anfield,” said Barber, “but for whatever reason Moises and his advisers decided that London would be their destination of choice. used to be.

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‘We are in a difficult position in that situation; we negotiated a UK record deal and spent several days working with Liverpool – who were professional all the way.

“At that point (when the player chooses not to go) we’re out of the loop, it’s all between the player and Liverpool. When it became clear that he is not going to Liverpool, we have to go into a different mode, then we have to do it all again (negotiate a record British transfer), which we did.

“We started working with Chelsea and we had to protect our own interests, namely the player. We did that and now Moises is moving on to the next step in his career.’

And Barber was full of praise for the Ecuadorian midfielder, adding: “He’s a fine player and he could be one of the best midfielders in the world, he has so much potential.”

But Caicedo isn’t the first top quality star to leave the Amex Stadium in recent years on a huge transfer deal, and given Brighton’s hiring policy, he probably won’t be the last either.

Barber went on to describe how the club focused on “fishing in different ponds” to identify the players their rivals don’t look at, relying on their recruiting teams to push the deals over the line so the coaching staff can help reach their full potential . and sell it for a big profit.

For example, Caicedo was picked up for £4.5 million from Ecuadorian side Independiente Del Valle as he saw the Seagulls pull in a massive £110.5 million profit following his huge move to Chelsea.

In total, the club has made a profit of £165 million in the last two seasons alone, with revenues of around £364 million, including Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) and Robert Sanchez (Chelsea) have already left. in 2023.

As well as Caicedo, the club also has promising Irish youngster Evan Ferguson on its books who is sparking interest from Premier League clubs.

Manchester United in particular have been linked with an attack, but Barber was quick to issue a hands-off warning for the foreseeable future.

“In Evan’s case, at least five years!” Barber claimed. “The coaching staff make the most important decisions about where a player is in their development – whether they need more first-team games or go on loan or whether we should trade them sooner or later.

“We rely on technical staff to assess player development, we only interfere with what happens next, but it’s a team effort.”