stormi wrote:Nope, that isn't the context.
Brighton tried to wring us for Colwill in the deal whomst we had loaned out to them that season under RDZ, the most promising U21 CB in the league at that point. They never had an intention of doing an honest deal. They tried to unsettle Colwill, as did Liverpool and hoped for him to not extend his contract.
When he rejected the idea of going to both Brighton & Liverpool (what's new) and extended, Brighton shifted negotiations again. Constantly stalling and working and changing terms on the fly. A wild goose chase.
And then comes Liverpool at the 11th hour, and with a PL record bid. Alarm bells.
We hadn't heard about Liverpool's involvement in the Caicedo deal until the bid was accepted, which was mid August mind you. Liverpool were strongly linked to Manu Kone, K Thuram, Romeo Lavia that summer. Both the world & Moises Caicedo were only notified of Liverpool’s interest the day the bid went in, that means Liverpool purposely went to Brighton first, without going to Caicedo.
Brighton's plan was to completely blind side Chelsea out of spite regarding Levi Colwill, and Liverpool hierarchy assumed once the deal had been agreed Caicedo would auto-join which is why Ornstein reported personal terms as a “formality”.
Little did they know that Moises Caicedo had the heart of a lion and wasn't interested in your shady backdoor games.
My engine, my rock, my inspiration. Sir Moises Caicedo.
And for good measure to put you in your place we took Lavia as well.
The issue with your theory is that the NY Times article I linked was from June, which clearly stated Brighton wanted, at the very least, 100m. Saying you were blindsided by Liverpool's bid in August in disingenuous, given Chelsea knew of the fee two months earlier. Instead, the Blues tried to lowball throughout the summer. Here's another article, this one from July:
Brighton and Hove Albion have rejected an £80million bid (£75m plus £5m in add-ons) from Chelsea for Moises Caicedo.
The improved proposal was submitted on Thursday and turned down instantly via email.
It is the fourth offer Chelsea have made for the 21-year-old after they had offers worth £60m, £65m, and £70m knocked back by Brighton.
Brighton have considered recent transfers such as the £105m signing of Declan Rice by Arsenal in deciding their valuation of Caicedo.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4726999/2023/07/27/caicedo-chelsea-brighton-reject-bid/
And by the way, pretty hilarious to show Caicedo holding Chelsea's player of the season award. Who else would it have been? Cole Palmer, who has one PL goal to his name since mid-January? It's quite the damning statement for a club spending over a billion to only have one player to choose from.
You really put Liverpool in its place, didn't you? A shame both Mac Allister and Gravenberch had to be key components in winning the club its 20th title. For your sake, maybe Lavia will actually be healthy enough to play a full season.
