Liverpool suffers major transfer blow as club slaps huge £100m price tag on January target

Liverpool suffers major transfer blow as club slaps huge £100m price tag on January target

Premier League club Brighton have reportedly placed a £100m price tag on Moises Caicedo in a major blow to Liverpool’s hopes of signing the midfielder.

With Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Newcastle all said to be interested in signing the midfielder, the Ecuadorian international has been a subject of discussion in January.

The Times said that Chelsea made a formal offer of £55 million for Caicedo, which was instantly rejected by Brighton, who insisted that they would need to pay almost twice as much to have him leave the Amex.

Given that Leandro Trossard was previously lost to Arsenal in January, manager Roberto De Zerbi is naturally anxious to keep the midfielder.

The Italian stated at the end of last month: “I would like to keep all our players here, and I would like to add some too. I hope that Caicedo and [Alexis] Mac Allister will stay with us.”

However, the clubs that were originally told he would only cost £65million may be shocked by the three-digit price tag, according to numerous publications.

Moses Caicedo (Getty Images)

Brighton stands to benefit handsomely from Caicedo’s sale because they only paid £5 million for the midfielder two years ago when they bought him from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle.

Despite the speculation surrounding his future, Caicedo told Brighton’s website that he was happy “playing for the club that opened doors for me”.

He stated: “I am focused on Brighton. I am here. I’m playing every day. Things from outside don’t trouble me nor does it take that focus away because I’m focused only here

“I handle (the speculation) well. You hear rumours here and there but I only try to be focused on the club where I am now, the club which opened the doors for me to be playing every week.”

Caicedo has continued his impressive form since returning from the World Cup in Qatar but said that he has struggled to re-adjust to the temperature in England.

He said: “The most difficult part for me was getting used to the cold again – nothing else! For the rest, I have been focused on doing things very well and being up there fighting for a good position with Brighton.”

In other news, Liverpool now leading the race for Ace midfielder but may have to wait until the summer