When Chelsea brought in Enzo Fernandez in the summer and paid Benfica €121,000,000 for the young midfielder, the boundaries were pushed. The Argentine, with only half a season of European football in Benfica and a well-played World Cup, became the most expensive player in the history of the Premier League. But also a signal for “smaller” clubs that they can ask for more.Fernandez’s record could be broken after only half a year. And again the defensive midfielder could be in the main role. At the moment, two of the most sought-after players on the Island are West Ham’s Declan Rice and Brighton’s Moises Caicedo. Both are wanted by London clubs but will have to pay more for their engagements than anyone before them.Since breaking into West Ham’s first team at the age of 18, Rice has been attracting attention. First, the national teams fought for him, and in the end he chose England instead of Ireland, whose younger selections he passed and even played three matches for the A selection. When he chose the national crest he will be representing, it was then time to chose his club-related future. After a season and a half of senior football at West Ham, when he established himself in the team, Manchester City was the first to throw the hook. Then West Ham asked for around 50,000,000 euros and in the blue part of Manchester, they estimated that it was too much. In every subsequent transfer window, he was mentioned as a desire of major Premier League clubs. And the price just kept going up…##NAJAVA_MECA_7324586##For years, Rice was a big desire of Chelsea. Frank Lampard wanted him first (in the first term), then Thomas Tuchel, but West Ham asked for more each time. In the summer of 2021, the Hammers valued Rice at 90,000,000 euros, and Manchester United joined the race with the Blues. The price has already gone over 100,000,000 euros… Thomas Tuchel also tried last summer when the new boss Todd Boehly spent money on reinforcements, but Rice was too expensive even then.When Chelsea, City and United have already failed, Arsenal will try this summer. This upcoming summer, West Ham highlighted a price of 120,000,000 pounds (138,000,000 euros!). The Hammers are even prepared to accept 100,000,000 pounds (114,000,000 euros) plus a player who comes along. However, Arsenal’s first offer was around 93,000,000 euros plus bonuses, with which the transfer could reach 105,000,000. For West Ham – not enough!Of course, the summer market has just started and at West Ham they know that they have enough negotiating capacity to make the market difficult and tough. They are financially stable, Rice has two years left on his contract and they can make a bid and not fall after the first punch. Of course, they run the risk of Arsenal walking away and not coming back with another offer. And to sell the player next summer for less money because Rice has already rejected three contract extension offers. But that is unlikely… The transfer will happen this summer.Declan Rice’s preference remains Arsenal. He’s fully convinced by his role in Arteta’s project. Rivals not encouraged to compete by him amid reported Man City, Man United and Chelsea interest. West Ham demand £100m. [@NizaarKinsella] pic.twitter.com/oNcPvOtfLp— Gunners (@Gunnersc0m) June 16, 2023 The Gunners won’t give up that easily as they need capital reinforcements in midfield with Granit Xhaka on the verge of a move to Leverkusen and Arteta not having many options for two midfield spots. He is left with Jorginho and Partey as more serious options plus Elneny and Lokonga. Arsenal need a defensive midfielder, they will throw all their cards at Rice and very likely have to break the Premier League transfer record. Already during the day, another offer in the amount of 100,000,000 pounds could go to West Ham.Arsenal’s first choice for the central midfielder role was Brighton’s Moises Caicedo. Throughout January, the transfer saga around the Ecuadorian lasted, Arsenal sent three offers, the last of which was 80,000,000 euros, but Brighton rejected all of them. They did not want to let go of an important player in the middle of a season in which they were fighting for a historic place in Europe. They promised him a transfer permit in the summer if they won a place in European competitions, he agreed to a contract extension until 2027 and received a higher salary. Arsenal are no longer interested in him, however Chelsea showed up as an interested party and after years of unsuccessful pursuit of Rice, have now shifted their focus to the Ecuadorian, who is three years younger. But also more expensive than Rice!🚨 Brighton regard Declan Rice’s potential departure from West Ham United to Arsenal as a benchmark for Moisés Caicedo’s value of at least £100 million.They believe Caicedo is at least as good, if not better, than Rice.#CFC(@AndyNaylorBHAFC) pic.twitter.com/JowSNMhOZG— Chelsea Dodgers (@TheBlueDodger) June 16, 2023 Brighton boss Tony Bloom is convinced that Caicedo is worth more than Rice and Enzo Fernandez and has set an incredible starting price of £120,000,000, which is just over €140,000,000. Of course, the initial price is not the same as the final price. Well-informed insiders on the Island believe that Brighton would agree to less money and the option to include one of Chelsea’s players in the transfer. But the money part will certainly not be less than 100,000,000 euros.Brighton’s first wish is to include the talented stopper Levi Colwill in the transfer, who came to them last summer on loan from Chelsea’s youth team and left a pretty good impression in twenty games. Brighton would love to keep him, but reportedly Chelsea’s new coach Mauricio Pochettino wants the young defender in training and sees him as the future of the Blues. In addition to money, Chelsea are ready to offer some other players, including Conor Gallagher, but the question is how much Brighton are interested in him.Kovacic finally caught on Guardiola’s hook, Chelsea to recover their investmentLike Arsenal and Rice, several weeks of negotiations are yet to follow. But the bottom line is that Caicedo is as necessary to the Blues as Rice is to the Gunners. Chelsea will be left without Kante this summer – who is moving to Saudi Arabia, Mateo Kovacic – who is on the verge of signing for Manchester City, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who is not in the club’s plans and will be sold or loaned, Denis Zakaria’s loan has expired, and if Gallagher leaves, then the Blues are left with just Enzo Fernandez and the aforementioned Gallagher in the mix. That’s why Caicedo is necessary for them and that’s why Brighton are ready to take as much as they can from Boehly.The Premier League should soon get a new most expensive player in history. It’s just a question of where the transfer bomb will explode first. In North or West London.
