Moises Caicedo and the drama of which club he would end up with has finally concluded. The Brighton & Hove Albion Ecuadorian midfielder has signed for Chelsea. Despite the interest from Liverpool, the Ecuadorian was always clear on where he wanted to play.
KTBFFH! 😁 pic.twitter.com/xXryN9ZCiA
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 14, 2023
Chelsea has completed the signing of Moisés Caicedo, and it didn’t come cheap. In this overinflated transfer market, Chelsea has had to fork out £100 million paid upfront and £15 million as add-ons. Brighton has also been smart enough to add a sell-on clause.
The deal is about the same thing that Arsenal paid to prise Rice from West Ham. The Gunners paid £100 + 5 million for the Englishman.
Caicedo signed an eight-year deal, which should keep him at Stamford Bridge till 2031.
Caicedo’s announcement – the Nigerian connection
It’s only ever been Chelsea. pic.twitter.com/LCYf6A2BQr
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 14, 2023
The Blues took to their Instagram page to announce the eventual conclusion of the deal that brought 21-year-old Caicedo to Stamford Bridge.
The West London club did the same thing as Arsenal, where the North London club unveiled their star signing – Declan Rice. Nigerian artiste Odumodublvck had earlier released a viral song titled Declan Rice. Arsenal chose to announce their club record signing with the hit song Declan Rice by Odumodublvck.
Chelsea has towed the same path as Arsenal. The Blues have also unveiled Caicedo with another hit song by a Nigerian artiste. The Blues used the song Finesse by Pheelz.
Who is Nigerian songwriter Pheelz?
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY 🤟🏾🎧 Wouldn’t change the journey for anything, na the music give me liberty. Adupe, God is good🤟🏾#Jelo pic.twitter.com/KW3xRD1G03
— Pheelz🐘🤟🏾 (@Pheelz) August 6, 2023
There are so many young and enterprising Nigerian artistes these days. It’s almost like there is a mill that churns them out daily. With Chelsea choosing a song by Pheelz to unveil their star signing Caicedo, the question is – who is Pheelz?
Pheelz's real name is Phillip Kayode Moses. The 29-year-old Nigerian record producer, singer and songwriter specialises in Afropop, Afrobeats and African hip hop.
Pheelz is popular in Nigeria and has worked with top artistes like Olamide and the queen of Mavin Records – Tiwa Savage. He has also featured several top Nigerian artistes in his songs, including Olamide (Son of Abraham – 2015), Reekado Banks (Honey – 2016) and Naira Marley (Gobe – 2019).
In the viral hit song Finesse used to unveil Caicedo, Pheelz featured Bnxn (Buju). French Montana is also on the song.
Black Stars-eligible Romeo Lavia expected to join Chelsea
Chelsea is making a massive splash in the transfer market, and even FFP looks helpless in stopping them. Following the coup of Caicedo, the Blues are not through with signing players this summer. The West London club has eyes on another defensive midfielder.
The Blues have beaten Liverpool to Caicedo and are close to upstaging them in their pursuit of Romeo Lavia. Liverpool has been dilly-dallying over the price of Southampton defensive midfielder Lavia, which has allowed Chelsea to get in the race.
The Southampton midfielder of Ghanaian descent has rejected the opportunity to join Liverpool and opted for Chelsea.
Liverpool had agreed a £60 million deal with Southampton, but Lavia did not believe it was in his best interest. The Belgian international rejected Liverpool, preferring the £50 million offered by Chelsea. Lavia will now join Caicedo at Chelsea.
The move will not surprise the Reds, as Lavia had always indicated a preference for Chelsea.
The signing of Caicedo brings to 8 the number of players they have signed. The other players signed include Axel Disasi (£38.8m), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal – £32m), Robert Sanchez (Brighton & Hove – £25m), Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes – £23.1m), Angelo Gabriel, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Diego Moreira and Alex Matos (all undisclosed).
Rumours suggest that besides Lavia, Chelsea also has their eyes on Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise and is close to agreeing on a deal.
This article was most recently revised and updated 3 months ago
