Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo rejected Liverpool
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has discussed the Reds missing out on Moises Caicedo, who will represent Chelsea in the League Cup final on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool are hoping to send departing manager Jurgen Klopp off with silverware this season, and the visit to Wembley will be their first chance to do just that. Standing in their way, however, is Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino’s side will be looking to prove a point after another disappointing campaign which sees them sat 10th in the Premier League table.
The cup final will pit Mac Allister against his former Brighton midfield partner Caicedo. Although, things could have been far different for the pair.
Last July, Liverpool won the race for Mac Allister by paying Brighton an initial £35million, though the deal reportedly had the potential to rise to £55m through bonus clauses.
But after the exits of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, Liverpool felt they needed to sign a new defensive midfielder, too. This saw the Merseyside giants enter the race for Caicedo.
Liverpool left other members of the Premier League stunned when they submitted a huge £111million bid for Caicedo on August 11, which was accepted by Brighton.
Despite Liverpool’s record-breaking attempts, they lost out on the 22-year-old to Chelsea. Caicedo told Liverpool officials he had already agreed to join Chelsea and he subsequently moved to Stamford Bridge for an initial £100m, rising to £115m.
Caicedo’s rejection of Liverpool forced Klopp to sign Wataru Endo from Stuttgart to help fill the No 6 void, while Mac Allister has also operated there for large parts of the season, despite him previously playing as a No 10 for Brighton.
Moises Caicedo snub was a ‘personal decision’ – Mac Allister
Ahead of the clash between Liverpool and Chelsea later this weekend, Mac Allister was asked about Caicedo’s transfer decision. He replied (via the Daily Express): “It’s a personal decision, that’s what he chose and that’s completely fine.
“He’s an amazing player, a really good guy so I wish him all the best – but not on Sunday!”
Mac Allister continued: “The World Cup helped me to realise that I really want to win more trophies, so this is a big opportunity. It’ll be my first final with Liverpool and first opportunity to win something.
“So it’s going to be something very special for me and the team. We need to go out there, do our best, play the game we want to play and try to win.”
Given how impressive Liverpool have been this term, they would usually be considered strong favourites to lift the trophy. However, Klopp is dealing with a vastly weakened Liverpool side.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones are just some of the important players Liverpool will have to cope without, while it remains to be seen whether Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez will feature prominently.
