21 hours ago
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Moises Caicedo looked to be sending a clear message to Liverpool and Chelsea fans after firing the latter into the lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The midfielder produced a superb strike as he took advantage of the visiting defenders backing away from him, rocketing the ball home from 20 yards to give Premier League debutant Giorgi Mamardashvili no chance in the Liverpool goal.
Caicedo promptly ran toward the home supporters cupping his ear before pointing toward the Chelsea badge on his shirt, seemingly in a not-so-subtle message after finding himself the subject of a transfer battle between the two sides two years ago.
Liverpool had a record $150 million (£111M) bid accepted by Brighton back in 2023, but Caicedo decided against the move as he looked to secure a switch to Chelsea.
The Blues would eventually come in with an offer of $155M (£115M) to beat the Reds to his signature, with Caicedo having since insisted he only ever wanted the move to Stamford Bridge.
"It was difficult," Caicedo confessed last year. "So difficult. As you know, Liverpool is a big team. As is Chelsea.
"But Chelsea was with me for a couple of months. I could not miss out on them because they were with me in tough moments when Brighton didn't want to let me go.
"It was a difficult decision but, for sure, 100% I knew I wanted to go to Chelsea."
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp would go on poke fun at Caicedo for his decision to turn down the move to Anfield, with the Reds instead turning their attentions to Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch thereafter.
“The summer we had, we had a few strange things happen in the transfer market but here, between us, I can say, ‘My god, were we lucky, eh?',” Klopp said later that year. “We didn’t know that in that moment and it didn’t feel like it in that moment, but yeah, I’m really happy that it worked out, but you never know before.
“We obviously realized that other central defensive midfielders don’t want to join Liverpool, you see what happens, and then we found [Wataru] Endō. He’s an exceptional player.”
Liverpool.com says: You don't have to be an expert in body language to know what that celebration meant from Caicedo.
Liverpool won't be losing much sleep over it, mind, seeing as though Gravenberch looks to be developing into a superb No.6 now, although the way things are going at the moment, that goal does sting more than a little.
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