Moises Caicedo is no stranger to a drawn-out transfer saga.
Years before Chelsea began peppering Brighton with dizzying offers only to be outbid by Liverpool, before the Blues bid £115m to secure his services this week, Caicedo was the subject of a multi-club tussle while he was still in Ecuador with Independiente del Valle.
Manchester United, AC Milan, Brighton, Chelsea and Belgian side Club Brugge were all interested in the midfielder after a rapid ascension in senior South American football. Three separate agencies also tried to represent Caicedo and get a slice of any potentially lucrative deal.
Ultimately, Brighton cut through the chaos to snag Caicedo for just £4.5m in 2021. After less than 50 starts for the Seagulls, the 21-year-old has now become one of the most expensive players in the history of the sport.
Here's how Caicedo's £115m move to Chelsea compares to the game's other costly sagas.
Moises Caicedo to Chelsea
Chelsea confirmed the signing of Caicedo after one of the most dramatic transfer sagas of recent times. The Blues had been pursuing the midfielder for the majority of the summer, however had been unwilling to make a bid over £80m until Liverpool agreed to fork out £111m for his services.
Despite an agreement between Liverpool and Brighton being struck, Caicedo was unwilling to agree to a move to Anfield, opening the door for Chelsea to swoop in and have a £115m bid accepted for his services.
The midfielder has now put pen to paper on an eight-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
Caicedo has become the most expensive signing for Chelsea and any other British club. But where does he rank on a global scale?
Most expensive signings of all time
Less than four years after making his senior debut as a 17-year-old in the Ecuadorian top flight, Caicedo has become the fifth most expensive footballer of all time.
Even though Caicedo's fee has scratched nine digits, Neymar's move to PSG comfortably remains the most expensive in history, with the Ligue 1 giants paying £198m for the forward's services.
Neymar's PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe is second on the list but could have moved into top spot after Al Hilal's £259m offer was accepted by the French champions. Mbappe ultimately refused to even meet with representatives of the Saudi giants.
Caicedo has cost Chelsea marginally more than Atletico Madrid splashed out on Joao Felix in 2019. Not entirely surprisingly, an elfin forward without a fixed position struggled to adapt to Diego Simeone's defence first (second and third) approach in the Spanish capital. After a failed loan spell at Chelsea in the second half of last season, Felix has spent an icy pre-season on the fringes at Atletico.
In the same January window that Felix arrived at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea broke the British transfer record to extricate Enzo Fernandez from Benfica. The 22-year-old has followed a similarly stratospheric rise to prominence, arguably eclipsing Caicedo's ascent by winning the World Cup 18 months after his top-flight debut. The Blues have now broken their own transfer record to sign Caicedo.
This article was originally published on 90min as How Moises Caicedo fee compares to most expensive signings in football history.
