Liverpool have reached an agreement to buy Moises Caicedo from Brighton and Hove Albion for a British record £110 million, according to a report.
The midfielder could travel to Merseyside for a medical on Friday as Liverpool and the Ecuadorian are close to agreeing personal terms, according to The Athletic.
In addition, transfer expert Romano also confirmed: “Liverpool submitted their official bid for Moisés Caicedo tonight and Brighton are set to accept!
“#LFC bid, set to break English transfer record — up to £110m total fee.
“Moisés Caicedo will become Liverpool player on Friday, if all goes to plan.”
As revealed by Telegraph Sport on Thursday, Liverpool made a late move for Caicedo and outbid Chelsea, who had been leading the race for the midfielder all summer.
Chelsea’s latest bid for the 21-year-old is understood to have been around £100 million.
The development is set to add to a growing midfield headache for Mauricio Pochettino. Since January, Jorginho, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N’Golo Kante have all left the club.
Caicedo had made it clear for weeks that he intended to move to Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool have been interested in Caicedo for months, as reported by Telegraph Sport earlier this year.
The transaction would shatter Liverpool’s transfer record, which was the £75 million it spent for Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in 2018.
Caicedo would join Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton as the second player from Brighton to join Liverpool this summer as part of Jurgen Klopp’s revamping of the midfield.
Bayern Munich has expressed interest in Caicedo and planned to compete with Chelsea and Liverpool for his services.
The battle for Caicedo comes after Chelsea decided to go head-to-head with Liverpool in the race for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia. Sources believe that Chelsea’s £48 million offer for Lavia, which was submitted on Wednesday night, could be linked to the unfolding race to sign Caicedo.
Chelsea is also close to acquiring Tyler Adams from Leeds United in a deal worth about £20 million, in addition to their chase of Caicedo. The club is eager to sign both players this month, thus the move for Adams is unrelated to their continued interest in Caicedo.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are desperate to strengthen in midfield after losing Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabian clubs this summer.
The battles for Caicedo and Lavia are made more interesting by the fact that Chelsea face Liverpool in their opening Premier League match of the season this weekend.
