Well that was awkward.
You can only imagine the reaction from Jurgen Klopp whenever he texted Moises Caicedo, thinking that he was on his way to Liverpool, only to receive a crushing reply.
The Caicedo transfer saga was one of the most bizarre in recent years, and this is during a time where Saudi money is inflating the market from ridiculous to downright ludicrous.
Liverpool had been chasing the signature of Roman Lavia, the Southampton youngster who plays primarily as a centre defensive midfielder.
However, after months of refusing to pay the asking price, and coninusluy bidding just below it, that signing appeared to be less and less likely.
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Liverpool had reportedly bid well over £100m to sign Caicedo, Brighton’s CDM, and planned on breaking the British transfer record in the process.
They went from being overly tight with the purse strings, to splashing the cash for everyone to see, much to the relief of Liverpool fans who were growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of funding from their owners FSG.
However, despite everything seeming done and dusted with only a few formalities left to complete, it was announced that the midfielder would not be joining the Reds, choosing instead to join Chelsea.
During this time Klopp had texted what he thought was going to be his newest player, and told him how much he admired him. Not an uncommon thing for managers to do when a signing is on the verge of completion.
However, Caicedo responded to the German native stating that he respected him and the club, but was only interested in joining Chelsea.
Just to compound matters, their original target, Lavia, then decided to make the move to Stamford Bridge as well, leaving Liverpool fans feeling like they have been highjacked.
Klopp responded by signing Waturo Endo from Stuggart to help fill that void in the team, and is still on the look-out for a more long term solution.
Caicedo made his debut in a Chelsea jersey last weekend during their 3-1 defeat to West Ham, where he came off the bench to give away a crucial penalty.
Related links:
- Wataru Endo: The pros and cons of Liverpool’s new signing
- Liverpool eyeing up Crystal Palace midfielder after missing out on Caicedo and Lavia
- “This is not on the owners” Jamie Carragher gives interesting take on Liverpool’s transfer mess
