15 September 2023 , 11:40
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Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic claims the Blues should have signed Declan Rice instead of Moises Caicedo.
The West-Londoners signed the midfielder earlier this summer for a club and British transfer record fee of £115m. The deal saw them fight off the advances of Premier League rivals Liverpool, who had also agreed a deal with Brighton to sign Caicedo.
Despite that, he has not enjoyed the best start to life at Stamford Bridge. The 21-year-old has just one Premier League win to his name since becoming a Chelsea player - that coming in the 3-0 success against Luton.
Caicedo also had a nightmare debut as he conceded a penalty in the 3-1 defeat against West Ham despite having only played under half an hour. Now, former Blues stopper Begovic has claimed that Chelsea should have signed Declan Rice instead - the England star moving to Arsenal this summer.
Speaking on The Byline Podcast, the now Queens Park Rangers stopper said: “If you’re spending £115m on Caicedo, surely you spend £120m on Declan Rice? I don’t know Declan personally, I’m not saying he doesn’t want to play for Arsenal, but hand on heart I think he’d have wanted to go to Chelsea.
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“You look at some of these players and think, ‘How is Declan Rice going somewhere else?’ Players like this, they would go to Chelsea in the past; players in their prime, and Declan Rice is in his prime.”
Asmir Begovic believes Chelsea should have signed Declan Rice instead of Moises Caicedo (Getty Images)Do you agree with Asmir Begovic? Share your thoughts in the comments below
Whilst Begovic criticised the signing of Caicedo, he also questioned the decision to move for Enzo Fernandez. Chelsea had made him the British record transfer back in January as they signed him for £106m from Portuguese giants Benfica.
He had played a key role for Argentina as they won the World Cup in Qatar. The 22-year-old has scored just one goal in his 27 appearances for the Blues so far and also missed a penalty in Chelsea’s defeat to West Ham.
Again, Begovic believes that Rice would have been a better signing than Fernandez. He added: “I’m not saying I don’t like Enzo Fernandez, but if we’re going to spend £230m on him and Caicedo then I’d prefer Declan Rice over any of those players if I can get him. Get the best players in through the door please.”
Whilst Caicedo and Fernandes have so far struggled to convince Begovic, the same cannot be said of Rice. He has become a pivotal figure at the Emirates and recently scored a late winner against Manchester United.
He will hope to play a key role once more this weekend as the Gunners take on stuttering Everton. Meanwhile, both Fernandez and Caicedo will hope to help Chelsea to their second Premier League win of the season against Bournemouth.