West Ham United in hot pursuit of Brighton midfield star Moises Caicedo as transfer value soars
West Ham are in the race to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo this summer as he continues his fine form on the south coast, according to the Sunday Mirror.
The newspaper reported via their print edition on 14 August (page 76) that Arsenal, Manchester United, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen are also in the hunt to sign the 20-year-old Ecuador international.
Caicedo joined Brighton for £4.5million from Independiente del Valle in February 2021 and it is understood the Seagulls “could expect an excellent return if they were to sell him this month”.
However, the Sunday Mirror claims that Brighton “have no need to sell” Caicedo as they’ve already made a huge amount of cash this summer by selling Marc Cucurella to Chelsea for £60million.
Midfield depth
West Ham’s midfield options are still quite light despite David Moyes signing Flynn Downes from Swansea earlier this summer.
Alex Kral, whose loan expired, and Mark Noble, who retired, both left the London Stadium at the end of last season meaning that there’s a deficit of central options in the Irons squad right now.
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek are both expected to start in the central roles against Nottingham Forest on Sunday (14 August) after they both lined up in Moyes’ starting 11 against Manchester City last week.
Downes came off the bench but he’s the only proper central midfield option away from those two regular starters so adding depth in that area makes a lot of sense.
Caicedo is described as a Brighton “star” by the Sunday Mirror.
He’s been in great form on the south coast since breaking into Graham Potter’s first-team plans and last week after Brighton’s win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, the Seagulls manager was quoted by The Argus as saying: “I thought his first-half performance was so impressive.
“He is not that old and is still adapting and learning but he has great qualities.
“He’s fantastic, he really is.
“I think, for young players, they just need to play more games and not put too much pressure on them but we enjoy working with him.
“He’s a great guy and I think you could see his quality.”
Speaking before Brighton signed Caicedo in 2021, South American football expert Tim Vickey was quoted by SussexWorld as saying: “Caicedo is a terrific player.”
He added: “He’s a box-to-box midfielder, a terrific athlete who is cool in possession. He’s not a wizard, not a glamorous player but he’s got so much to offer.”
It remains to be seen how much Brighton want for the Ecuadorian youngster now but there’s a good chance it’ll be a lot and West Ham might have to go high in order to beat off the competition for his signature.