The Moises-Caicedo saga has been a roller coaster ride so far and it is Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan leading the negotiations for the Reds, rather than the club’s new sporting director.
It’s been a crazy 48 hours until Liverpool, Chelsea and the hunt for Caicedo, and conflicting reports have left fans with a jolt as they await each update.
This Is Anfield understands that Liverpool are still on the hunt for Caicedo, although Chelsea continue to seek to top the Reds’ British record transfer fee of £111million.
Chelsea are set to test Brighton with another offer but so far Liverpool are the only club to have agreed a deal with the south coast club.
And it was Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan who worked “quietly behind the scenes” to finalize the Brighton deal, according to BBC Sport. In a deal of this magnitude, it’s no surprise that Hogan takes center stage in place of Jörg Schmadtke – FSG chairman Mike Gordon has signed such deals in the past.
But it’s a strange situation with Schmadtke taking over the role after Julian Ward left at the end of the season.
Schmadtke joined the club at the end of May and explained his position as the person who will provide Jurgen Klopp with all the information he needs to make his decisions.
He was no doubt involved in talks over Caicedo’s quick and substantial transfer from Liverpool, but it was Hogan who led the negotiations.
What Liverpool’s business looks like beyond Caicedo, whether formalized or not, remains to be seen, but one would expect Schmadtke to do his own thing behind the scenes in the meantime. The German announced in July that he had signed a one-year contract with an option to terminate at the end of August, after all parties assessed the success of his three-month spell.
“If someone is unsure, we shake hands and maybe I’ll get a ticket if I want to come,” Schmadtke told Sky Germany.
So far this summer, Schmadtke has activated Dominik Szoboszlai’s release clause, had laid the groundwork for Alexis Mac Allister before his arrival and was ever-present during Liverpool’s pre-season build-up.
From an outsider’s perspective, you think there’s more work to be done to extend the relationship beyond the summer, but Klopp will have a say in the overall success.
For now, we’ll wait and see where Hogan’s pursuit of Caicedo leaves us once the dust settles, hopefully it will be with Liverpool’s Ecuadorian in red.
