Manchester United are very interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo, according to Calciomercato’s Daniele Longo.
The Red Devils have made just three signings in Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez this summer, and there could be frantic transfer activity before the deadline.
A new defensive midfielder is among the top priorities for the club, and Longo reports that the club are ‘very interested’ in pursuing the services of Brighton’s Caicedo.
West Ham United are also keen on landing the highly-rated Ecuador international, and it is claimed that contacts are already in progress between the clubs and Brighton.
Caicedo has potential to become an elite midfielder
Caicedo was on United’s radar when he was playing for Independiente. However, they were reluctant to pay the £5m fee. Brighton eventually signed him in January 2021.
The Ecuadorian only made his Premier League debut in April this year, but has since started every game for the Seagulls, putting in consistent performances in midfield.
He has excelled with his tackles, interceptions as well as clearances. His distribution still needs some improvement (80% success rate), but he has provided key passes.
United may have realised their mistake of not signing him in the first instance, but it won’t be easy to prise him away with just over two weeks of the transfer window left.
The Seagulls lost one of their main midfielders in Yves Bissouma earlier this summer, and they recently sanctioned the sale of defender Marc Cucurella in a £59m deal to Chelsea.
Hence, United won’t get Caicedo for cheap with three years left on his contract. Brighton are bound to place a significant price tag of around £40m on the midfielder’s head.
The Red Devils are currently assessing several midfield transfer targets. A deal for Adrien Rabiot is stalling over personal terms, and they are now looking at Real Madrid’s Casemiro.
The 30-year-old would be an excellent short-term signing for United. It will be interesting to see whether they can sign both him and Caicedo before the transfer window closes.
It would be a big statement if they manage to do so.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
