by When a player joins a club for £115m it is natural to expect immediate results. When Moisés Caicedo joined Chelsea, however, he was coming in after a turbulent pre-season and he wasn’t joining a team with a set starting XI and a group of experienced characters who could make it easier for a newcomer to have an immediate impact.
The situation is not the same with another midfielder, Declan Rice, making a £105m move to Arsenal, where everything is much more cohesive. For Chelsea the worry is that any player who is in the spotlight as the final piece of the puzzle is that at some point they will disappear to the back of the sofa. This is a puzzle featuring a 23-year-old captain who keeps missing games, a 39-year-old goalkeeper, a slightly lame Ukrainian and a striker with as many yellow cards as a goal this season. Sometimes the pieces will fit together and everything will look great; sometimes you start Lesley Ugochukwu at Newcastle and lose 4-1.
None of this is a particularly productive environment to enter after transferring your record. Caicedo is not a flop. He left Brighton after the start of the season and made a slow start at Chelsea, conceding a penalty at West Ham on his debut and losing possession to Nottingham Forest’s winner at Stamford Bridge in September, but has since improved. For Chelsea, the challenge is not to put him under too much pressure. “He is an emotional man, an emotional player,” says Mauricio Pochettino. “We need time. We have to understand that he is taking his best.”
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The same is true of many of Chelsea’s young squad. They drew 2-2 with Arsenal, then lost at home to Brentford. They followed up their 4-4 draw with Manchester City with a blowout against Newcastle, a victory which saw captain Reece James get himself sent off with two yellow cards, Thiago Silva scoring a cheeky goal and Pochettino losing his mind after after the final whistle.
That return means Chelsea are well off the pace in the race to finish in the top four, even after spending £1bn on signings. Furthermore, they find themselves six points below Brighton ahead of hosting them on Sunday evening. A certain achievement because Chelsea have taken one manager, one sporting director and three players from Brighton from the summer of 2022.
Maybe there comes a point when everything clicks. But right now we’re heading into the winter transfer window and the possibility of Chelsea spending heavily on Ivan Toney or Victor Osimhen in an attempt to solve their scoring problems, assuming Christopher Nkunku’s return from a knee injury doesn’t improve immediately. in the final third.
Either way the mood is uncertain. Chelsea have been hyperactive in the transfer market but there are few clear leaders. The leading sides in the Premier League have big characters and a solid foundation. In contrast, Pochettino gave Chelsea a soft start after the Newcastle game. There is no guarantee that this side would be less prone to sudden collapse.
Think of the triumphalism that followed Caicedo’s signing. The pursuit has continued all summer and Chelsea have been beating the odds to overturn Liverpool’s last-minute entry into the race, much as they did when they faced Arsenal against Mykhailo Mudryk. The league table, however, tells a different story. It shows Liverpool pushing for the title and Chelsea also trying to get out of the team.
This is not to say that Caicedo’s purchase was misguided. He is 22, has an eight-year deal and is one of the best young midfielders in the world. He has had to overcome a minor knee injury and is yet to reach top speed, but Chelsea’s best performances have usually come from the Ecuador international in a dynamic midfield trio with Enzo Fernández and Conor Gallagher. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Caicedo was on the bench for the win in Newcastle.
The statistics are interesting. Caicedo, normally Chelsea’s deepest midfielder, is a wonder when it comes to tackles and interceptions in the top flight. Bought for his defensive qualities, his numbers have declined since last season. He also had more conservative possession, although he wants more switches of play. One of the most memorable moments came when he picked up possession deep against Fulham in October, beat the press and started the move that led to Mudryk’s goal by finding Levi Colwill with a cross-field pass.
This is not a one-dimensional destroyer. Although Caicedo’s main responsibilities are to protect the defense and act as a foil for Fernández, he is able to use the ball intelligently and shoot from distance. It is not the question. If he is making fewer assists and interceptions, it may be because Chelsea are a developing side with collective faults. If it’s a cultural and structural problem, even a £115m signing won’t solve it. Pochettino and Caicedo need time.
