11 August 2023 , 07:28
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Jamie Carragher admits Liverpool had to pay big for Moises Caicedo as buyers knew they were "desperate" but hailed his former club's summer business.
The Reds are set to pay a British record transfer fee of £110m to land the Brighton star, who has been heavily linked with Chelsea for weeks. The Merseysiders have jumped to the front of the queue, however, and are poised to sign the Ecuadorian subject to a medical.
Liverpool have been on the hunt for a defensive midfielder for weeks, initially chasing Southampton's Romeo Lavia, whom they'd had several bids rejected for. They've now diverted their attention as they sought a replacement to fill the void left by the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
The unexpected windfall from the pair, who both headed to Saudi Arabia, meant they had more cash and Carragher has praised those at Anfield for going after the Brighton man, who at 21, will be a mainstay for years to come.
He tweeted: "110M is a big price for Caicedo but Liverpool had to pay big as clubs knew they were desperate. But signing two top young players for 145M & selling two of your older players for 52M is great business!"
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Liverpool have already spent close to £100m to add Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, whom they needed following the exits of James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, who were all allowed to run down their contacts. Only days ago Carragher had taken aim at Liverpool for not acting with conviction in the market.
Moises Caicedo is set for a move to Anfield (Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)He said: "This is embarrassing. Liverpool for years now have got deals done quickly with no fuss. If you don’t think he’s worth 50M move on, if you really want him pay it. Also not sure why LFC aren’t in for Caicedo, yes it’s a lot of money but Liverpool got big money for JH/FAB".
Last summer the Reds broke their transfer record to land Darwin Nunez from Benfica and have repeated the trick 12 months on. Their £110m fee will usurp the current British transfer record, which came about after Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez back in January.
Carragher had also hailed Caicedo as the ideal option, ahead of Lavia, when speak on The Overlap Fan Debate, in partnership with Sky Bet, he said: "Liverpool need to just get the proper player now – Moises Caicedo. You might think Caicedo is overpriced but Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were massively overpriced so they’ve won on that side, so you may have to pay a bit extra on the other side – just do it."