Roberto De Zerbi hinted at a possible swap deal involving Moises Caicedo and Levi Colwill, with Chelsea eager to sign the Brighton man.
The Moises Caicedo saga continues to drag on as talks between Brighton and Chelsea continue but to no avail. Things have not looked good for the Blues in pursuing the 21-year-old midfielder, as the Seagulls continue to hold firm on their valuations for the midfielder.
Chelsea saw their latest bid rejected by the Seagulls, who reportedly want around £100 million to conduct business for the midfielder. The fee sounded out seems reminiscent of what Arsenal paid for Declan Rice earlier, and Brighton have benchmarked it with regards to the Ecuadorian.
Chelsea are planning on an improved offer in the coming days, but they are far behind in their difference with Brighton. Other possibilities have been mentioned in the media, such as a swap deal involving 20-year-old Levi Colwill.
Brighton continues to hold a key interest in the defender, and during his recent press conference, Roberto De Zerbi may have suggested it as a possible option. Speaking broadly on the Caicedo saga, the Italian manager also confirmed he does not have any agreement with the midfielder to allow him a transfer, which contradicts many of the previous reports in the media.
De Zerbi again on Caicedo: “I didn’t give my word for anything. At the moment, I haven’t received news that Caicedo can leave tomorrow or in the next week” ⚠️
“Colwill included in the deal? I would like to play with Colwill & Caicedo together”. pic.twitter.com/C6zjTvgsg1
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 21, 2023
De Zerbi said, “Everyone is speaking about Moises, Chelsea maybe but me? No. The situation is very clear at the moment. Moises is a Brighton player and Tony Bloom told me, if the conditions don’t change, Moises stays with us. For me, it would be great news,”
“It is not true. I am coach, not owner, I’m not a sporting director. I’m only a coach. Believe me, it is difficult to be a coach.”
Meanwhile, the manager went on to hint at a potential swap deal involving the two players. He later insisted that playing the two stars in the same team would represent the ideal scenario.
De Zerbi continued, “There are two questions. Not only about Caicedo, also about Colwill, and maybe it can be [a swap].”
“I would like to play with Caicedo and Colwill together but at the moment I can only speak about Caicedo as Colwill is not one of my players.”
The situation is more complex to get this deal in place on both sides. For starters, Brighton are very close to signing Igor from Fiorentina, indicating that they have completely given up on the Colwill.
Secondly, Chelsea have suffered a blow with the injury news on Wesley Fofana. It most certainly points at them keeping Colwill in the team, irrespective of whether he signs a new contract. Moreover, the Blues considers the 20-year-old key to their plans, and Mauricio Pochettino is keen to work with him.
Hence, any swap deal seems impossible now, although Chelsea will still get their chance to sign Caicedo. They must drastically improve their latest offering and come close to Brighton’s valuation for the midfielder.
