Liverpool owner John W Henry and other members of the Fenway Sports Group have flown to London to take in Liverpool’s opening game of the season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool owner John W Henry is set to attend the Reds’ clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. The two clubs have been embroiled in an ongoing transfer saga centred around Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo this week ahead of their Premier League opener.
Henry – and other members of Fenway Sports Group (FSG) – left the USA in the belief that a British record bid of £110million would be securing the services of Caicedo. But now they could miss out on the Ecuador international with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly preparing to hijack Liverpool’s move with a £115million offer in the belief that the player would prefer to join Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
In the early hours of Friday morning, news broke that the Reds had agreed a British record transfer fee of £110million with the Seagulls for the Ecuador international. However, Caicedo has not yet agreed personal terms with Liverpool despite the Merseyside club scheduling a medical for the midfielder at the AXA Training Centre on Friday afternoon – which never took place.
Caicedo remains in London and is waiting for the Blues to submit an improved offer to Brighton. While Chelsea have not yet come back with an improved offer to Brighton, sources have told football.london that they intend to do so and remain confident they can pip Liverpool to the 21-year-old’s signature.
Jurgen Klopp, when speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea vs Liverpool on Sunday, confirmed the club had agreed a deal with Brighton for Caicedo. “First and foremost, I got told I can confirm the deal with the club is agreed,” Klopp told reporters.
“Whatever that means exactly. We want the player and not any kind of agreement. What did change is we are a club, we don’t have endless resources. We didn’t expect a couple of things to happen this summer; [Jordan Henderson, Fabinho] – stuff like this. We gave it a go and we will see. I’ve told you now what I know.”Boehly is also ready to beat Liverpool to another transfer target in Southampton’s Romeo Lavia. football.london has been told Chelsea are ‘seriously moving’ for Romeo Lavia from Southampton as well as Caicedo, who they are now expecting to sign.
Sources have told football.london that Chelsea have gone over the £50m Southampton have valued Lavia at all summer and a deal is now close to completion. The offer from Chelsea consists of £52m up front and a further £3m in add-ons.
It has left Henry and the rest of the Anfield board frustrated and unhappy over how the Caicedo transfer business with Brighton has been conducted. The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge could be tense this afternoon as the two clubs’ American owners come face to face.