West Ham United’s Michael Antonio has shared his reaction to Liverpool’s failed pursuit of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia after the two opted for Chelsea over the Reds.
Speaking on The Footballer’s Podcast, his BBC show with fellow Premier League striker Callum Wilson, Antonio claimed Liverpool’s transfer deals had been “madness”.
“You know what madness is? During this thing I thought about what was going on between those two,” the West Ham man said.
“These bosses have something!
“There’s a lot of bickering, it’s madness.
“Literally, Liverpool go in there and it’s like, ‘Bid, bid, bid, bid, and Chelsea come in and say, ‘No, he’s my player now’ and they get him,” Antonio said of Caicedo. “They took him because Caicedo is a huge Chelsea fan. There was a picture of him wearing a Chelsea shirt when he was younger and sitting with his mother and when he signed for Chelsea they recreated it, it was a beautiful moment.”
Then Southampton midfielder Lavia again accepted 60 million pounds from Liverpool.
“Now I hear that Lavia wants to go to Chelsea too!”
Antonio looks as shocked as the Liverpool staff and fans. After all, it is very rare for two important targets to both choose a direct rival within a day or two.
Caicedo officially became a Chelsea player two days ago, while Lavia’s signing is all but confirmed, just pending an official announcement. Antonio was right, so what’s next?
Jurgen Klopp has just two weeks left to find an alternative couple and the rumor mill has been spinning like crazy for 48 hours.
It has been reported that the Reds inquired about the availability of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde from Real Madrid after being let down by Caicedo and Lavia – Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade was subsequently recalled with a move to Anfield Connected, as previously this summer.
The search for a new midfielder is likely to become hectic for Liverpool. Only time will tell who Klopp can land on transfer deadline day.
More news……..
Roméo Lavia battle won , two more signings: Liverpool dream transfer plan without Moisés Caicedo
Liverpool wanted Moisés Caicedo but seem to have lost. Roméo Lavia should be the first alternative, but even if it were possible, he can’t do it alone.
It looks like Liverpool will miss the signing of Moisés Caicedo. The Ecuadorian is leaving for Chelsea at the time of writing, where he signs an eight-year, $146million contract.
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea will present that amount and finalize the deal after negotiating the player on Saturday. He could be paraded onto the Stamford Bridge pitch during the opening match of the new Premier League season against the Reds on Sunday.
But what happens then for Liverpool? A plan will have to be worked out. It is probably mainly 19-year-old Roméo Lavia from Southampton, but Chelsea have also made an offer for the Belgian’s services.
Best-case scenario, dream scenario from this point, Liverpool would make a deal for Lavia. Having already seen three offers for the rejected boy, the last one not far from the asking price, it seems possible that the first thought is whether Caicedo proves unreachable.
But would that be enough? There was a big question mark hanging over a possible deal for Lavia before the Caicedo news was explored, as at 19 there is a lot of pressure to come in and expect it to be the immediate fix. Liverpool’s midfield needs a lot of renovations and asking Lavia to do it would be a difficult choice.
But now that he was willing to put a whopping $140m (£110m/€127m) on the table for Caicedo, the perception would be that there was the potential to do more business if Lavia gets halfway through. this amount. Another signing of the centre-back is important and can also be prioritised, but the length of this particular saga won’t have helped in that regard. The summer transfer window is just 19 days away and the first game of the new season is set to start today.
In a dream scenario, Liverpool would have signed Caicedo ahead of Chelsea. But if that proves impossible, the best thing to do would be to sign Lavia and another more experienced player, as well as a defender. It’s a lot to ask and it won’t come cheap, but Liverpool know what’s at stake.
Caicedo was reportedly a walking player on the pitch, hence FSG’s willingness to approve a mega-money offer well above the levels Liverpool have previously achieved. Without him, Liverpool will have to ensure that enough deals are completed to avoid a situation similar to that seen when Aurelien Tchouaméni was transferred last summer.
Although Tchouameni learned a lesson of having no alternative to Tchouameni when he decided to join Real Madrid, there was still a whole summer ahead of us back then. This time it’s less than three weeks
