Jamie Carragher has suggested that Chelsea’s deal for Moises Caicedo is much better than Manchester United signing Casemiro last summer.
Chelsea confirmed this week that Moises Caicedo, 21, has completed his move from Brighton to Stamford Bridge.
The Blues could end up paying as much as £115million (BBC) for Caicedo, which is a British club record fee.
However, the defensive midfielder’s reputation has soared in recent times due to some dominant Premier League performances in Brighton colours.
Interestingly, Carragher has compared the Caicedo transfer with Man United spending £70million (BBC) on Casemiro from Real Madrid last year.
The 31-year-old Brazilian star enjoyed a fantastic debut season at Old Trafford last year. However, the defensive midfielder is now in his thirties and some people will already doubt how much longer he’s got at the elite level.
Carragher thinks Chelsea’s deal for Caicedo is a much shrewder one than Casemiro.
Carragher wrote in The Telegraph: “The prices for [Enzo] Fernandez, [Declan] Rice and Caicedo are astronomical. They are also good deals. The proof of that is the £70 million Manchester United paid last summer for Casemiro. The Brazilian will end up costing United more than Arsenal and Chelsea paid for Rice and Caicedo.
“Caicedo and Rice are examples of thinking ahead – going big now to save cash for the next six or seven years in which they will assume their role.
“I never believed Casemiro would be value for money. Not because there is any doubt that he has been a world-class player. But because he is at a stage of his career when he cannot not fully repay United’s massive fee.
“United are now being strongly linked with players such as Sofyan Amrabat to help Casemiro protect their back line, but they did not challenge Arsenal and Chelsea for Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Fernandez or Rice because they felt Casemiro was the same profile of midfielder when they went big for him.
“That demonstrates how unwise they were to pay so much.”
Caicedo’s impact at Old Trafford last year was clear, so we’re not going to argue against his big price tag.
However, we understand Carragher’s point when it comes to value for money over a long period of time.
Hopefully, Chelsea have managed to land themselves a quality midfielder that can perform at the highest standard for the next decade.
If Caicedo lives up to his potential, we doubt everybody will continue to talk about his £100million-plus price tag.
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