Chelsea have signed Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo for a British-record fee of £115m on an eight-year contract.
Chelsea are understood to be paying an initial £100m, plus £15m in performance-related add-ons.
There is an option of a further year in Caicedo’s contract and Brighton will have a sell-on clause that has been described as “significant” as part of the deal.
Half of the add-ons have been described as “quite easily achievable”, while the other half are considered “much harder” to achieve.
Liverpool agreed a £111m deal to sign Caicedo last week but the move fell through when the 21-year-old informed the club he intended to join Chelsea.
Caicedo had been expected to travel to Liverpool for a medical on Friday after Jurgen Klopp’s side had a bid accepted by Brighton following a midnight deadline for bids on Thursday.
But the Ecuador international had a change of heart and told Liverpool – who drew 1-1 at Chelsea in their opening Premier League game of the season on Sunday – he did not want to join.
Caicedo completed his medical at Chelsea’s training ground on Monday.
Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: “Moises possesses a rare midfield skill set and is a player we’ve been targeting for some time. We believe he will make a significant impact at Stamford Bridge this season – and in the years ahead.”
Is this why Caicedo rejected Liverpool for Chelsea?
The £115m fee for Caicedo eclipses the £106.8m Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez when breaking the British-record transfer fee in January. Arsenal spent £105m on Declan Rice earlier in the summer.
Chelsea want to sign two midfielders this summer and are still pushing to sign Southampton’s Romeo Lavia despite Liverpool agreeing a £60m deal for the Belgian.
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