Michail Antonio has been speaking about Moises Caicedo after the Chelsea No.25 made his debut in Sunday’s London derby.
The West Ham No.9 was discussing the Ecuadorian with Callum Wilson on The Footballer’s Football Podcast.
So, what did Michail Antonio say about Moises Caicedo? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, the Jamaica international shared a pitch with the South American for 15 minutes as West Ham recorded a 3-1 win over Chelsea.
In that short amount of time, Antonio believes he noticed Caicedo struggling with the pressure of his £115m price tag.
The 33-year-old said: “You can see that he didn’t have the best of games. He came on, he conceded a penalty, he lost the ball, gave us a chance. He looked like he wasn’t sharp but it also looked like he had a heavy head as well.
“It’s one of those things where you try your hardest not to let those things (the record fee) affect you, but it easily does because of that price tag the fans are going to expect something from you… the fans are going to want something spectacular from him because he’s £115m.”
Antonio went on to admit that Caicedo remains a “quality player” – and feels the Chelsea new boy deserves time to settle after a disrupted summer involving little football.
West Ham’s all-time top Premier League goalscorer added: “In football you are going to have bad days, one thing we know about him is that he is a quality player and what he did for Brighton in the last year shows his quality.
“So, all people need to do right now is give him his opportunity, give him the time to show the abilities that he has and to basically build up his fitness to get to that stage. Two months out and not playing much football or anything is going to be difficult.”
Michail Antonio is spot on with Moises Caicedo statement
In our view, it is great to see Antonio come out and defend a fellow professional like this.
It is easy to forget that Caicedo is just 21 years of age, and while he seems to be a confident, mature footballer who plays beyond his years, people simply have to be patient with him.
Caicedo is not in control of the fee Chelsea paid for him, so all he can do now is get his head down and try to replicate his efforts for Brighton in west London.
Hopefully, the Chelsea new boy can bounce back in style with a commanding performance against Luton on Friday.
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