Moises Caicedo produced a dramatic turnaround against Liverpool in the summer transfer window, with the Brighton star finally set to join Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp has doubled down on his claim that Liverpool were “lucky” to miss out on Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo. Last month, Klopp joked to fans that he was glad Liverpool did not pay a British record £115m for the former Brighton midfielder in a return move when he moved to Anfield in August.
Sign with Chelsea. Since then, Caicedo, 22, has failed to make the impact Chelsea fans had hoped for after new manager Mauricio Pochettino welcomed the Ecuador international to Stamford Bridge with high hopes.
Liverpool, meanwhile, immediately made the signing of Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo, signing him from Stuttgart, Germany for just £15.4m, while also signing former midfielders Alexis McAllister and Dominic Szoboslay.
The Reds are currently top of the Premier League and chasing four trophies. So it’s understandable why Klopp feels vindicated in his final season at the club. “I looked for Wataru, I knew Maka could play in that position and Dom always caught my eye,” the Liverpool manager explained on Tuesday.
“If one of the 100 million euros (purchases) was successful, we can’t do it again. When we said we were happy, we meant it. “Everything was fine except the script. “Last December, Klopp delighted fans at the club’s extensive stand testing event at Anfield Road.
“We’ve had amazing things happen in the summer transfer window, but here we can all say, ‘Oh my God, we’ve been happy, haven’t we?’“I didn’t know it at the time and it didn’t feel like it at the time. But yeah, I’m really glad I made it.
But I didn’t know that before. “Caicedo wasn’t the only midfielder Chelsea missed out on.
Belgian star Romeo Rabia has left west London after several offers from Liverpool. Rabia, 20, has played just 32 minutes since leaving Southampton through injury. But Real Madrid talisman Jude Bellingham is at the top of Klopp’s wishlist as the England sensation prepares to leave Borussia Dortmund in July.
“We were interested in Bellingham, we realized that wasn’t going to happen and we thought we could play Caicedo, “explained Klopp.“(But) he had an emotional deal with Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino. Then Lavia had a reason. I was there. Then we found the best solution.”
