Moises Caicedo signed, new captain named – What Chelsea need to do before Liverpool clash
football.london takes a look at Chelsea’s to-do list before the new 2023/24 season kicks off when Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge in less than three weeks’ time
Chelsea remain in talks with Brighton to try and sign Moises Caicedo this summer
It is now under three weeks until Chelsea welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge in their first Premier League game of the 2023/24 season.
The Blues, now led by Mauricio Pochettino, will be looking to start the campaign in the perfect fashion as they look to dramatically improve on what was a dismal 2022/23 season.
A 12th-placed finish for Chelsea means no European football for the upcoming term and while that is a blow financially to the club, it does mean they will have more time to focus solely on the Premier League.
Before Chelsea and Liverpool do go head-to-head, though, there are still three pre-season matches for the Blues to play and a whole lot of transfer business to be done. Chelsea will complete their tour of the United States over the next couple of weeks while simultaneously trying to bring multiple new players to the club as they continue their rebuild.
The club remain locked in talks with Brighton over a deal to sign Moises Caicedo. Chelsea saw their latest offer of around £70million rebuffed by the Seagulls, who are still holding out for more to sign the Ecuadorian.
Caicedo himself, who has made it perfectly clear he wants to switch to Stamford Bridge this summer, has been told by Brighton that he can leave should the right offer come their way. football.london understands Chelsea are preparing a third bid to try and sign the 21-year-old with the next few days set to prove pivotal in what has turned into a transfer saga.
Pochettino is desperate to sign Caicedo as he looks to bolster his midfield options following the departures of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The likes of Andrey Santos and Cesare Casadei have both impressed over the two pre-season games thus far but it remains to be seen whether they will be loaned out for the upcoming campaign.
Meanwhile, the Blues remain interested in Rayan Cherki of Lyon. As football.london reported earlier in the month, initial contact has been made between Chelsea and the 19-year-old’s representatives over a possible move and it was made clear to the Blues that Cherki would be open to moving to Stamford Bridge.
The French club, however, are determined to keep hold of Cherki beyond the summer transfer window. Saying that, they still have not ruled out selling the France Under-21 international should the right sum of money come their way. At the moment, though, nothing is advanced with Cherki and despite initial interest, no concrete offer has been made by Chelsea to the player or Lyon.
Michael Olise is a name that has been mentioned by plenty on social media over the last 24 hours. The Crystal Palace winger is someone who has been appreciated by Chelsea for a long time now, football.london understands, so a move for him would not be out of the ordinary.
They are just some of the names we could see plenty of movement around over the next three weeks before Chelsea face Liverpool in Pochettino’s first competitive match. The Argentine, though, still needs to pick a permanent captain following the departure of Cesar Azpilicueta earlier in the month.
Right now, Thiago Silva looks the favourite to be handed the armband on a full-time basis, but there have also been a couple of shouts for Reece James. One certainly needs to be in place by the time Liverpool come to west London.
We aren’t even halfway into Chelsea’s pre-season schedule just yet, but the Premier League kick-off is fast approaching. It doesn’t allow for too much time for this ‘to-do list’ to be completed but they will be working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that does indeed happen.
Which of the following prospects would you like to see in the first team, or loaned out for experience? Swipe to have your say…
