Chelsea beaten by stunning ‘£110m bid’ as Liverpool ‘medical booked’ for ex-Arsenal & Man Utd target

Liverpool have agreed a British record £110m deal with Brighton and Hove Albion for Moises Caicedo, beating Chelsea to the signature of the sought-after midfielder - according to a number of reports.

Chelsea had seen a number of bids rejected for the midfielder with their latest coming in at £80m before Liverpool formalised their interest in the player.

Reports on Wednesday emerged the Reds had made an offer worth more than the £80m but David Ornstein of The Athletic has reported the Blues met Brighton’s asking price late on Thursday with a £100m offer.

However, they have been beaten to the signing by their Premier League rivals as the Anfield outfit made a bid worth £110m, which is set to break the British transfer record.

A medical is planned to take place on Friday as Chelsea welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday as the clubs kick off the 2023-24 Premier League game against each other.

Caicedo was the subject of interest from Arsenal in January as the Gunners saw two bids rejected for the player and he has also been linked with Manchester United this summer.

He signed a new deal at Brighton in March, with that contract set to run until 2027 with the option to extend by a further year. It gave the south coast club a stronger hand in negotiations this summer with Liverpool set to break the British record set by Chelsea when they signed Enzo Fernández for £106.8m in January.

Chelsea have bid £48m for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia with Liverpool seeing three bids knocked back for the player as Southampton hold out for £50m for the 19-year-old who joined from Manchester City last summer.

The Blues are set to bolster their midfield with the addition of Leeds United midfielder and United States international Tyler Adams after activating a £20m release clause in his contract which become active following the Whites relegation at the end of last season.