Chelsea owner Todd Boehly isn’t shy about spending money on football transfers. Ever since he came to the club, Chelsea have spent a lot of money on young, talented players all across Europe. Boehly had replaced Thomas Tuchel with Graham Potter at the start of the 2022–23 season. The Blues also eyed a move for a Brighton youngster at that time. Moises Caicedo came into the limelight after impressing everyone while playing for the Seagulls. He knew that the Blues would come to sign him one day.
In the summer of 2023, Chelsea broke the British record fee for any player and spent a lot of money to bring the Ecuadorian midfielder to Stamford Bridge. With money comes a lot of pressure. Chelsea had already signed Enzo Fernandez after his World Cup heroics with Argentina. The Blues have a completely new midfield, and here is a look at what this 21-year-old offers to the midfield.
Nervous start
Moises Caicedo had a debut to forget when he stepped on the pitch for the first time for Chelsea. The 21-year-old conceded a penalty in his 30-minute cameo against West Ham United in the dying minutes of the match. Since then, Caicedo has started in every league game.
The youngster is a strong figure and wins most of his duels. Caicedo has won 66% of his defensive duels, 53.3% of his aerial duels and 44.4% of his loose ball duels. Other than this, Caicedo makes 3.6 interceptions per 90 minutes.
Settling in the squad
After a bit of a shaky start, Caicedo has finally settled into the squad. He plays a defensive role for the Blues and is involved in a lot of plays through the middle. Caicedo averages 50.9 passes per 90 minutes and has a 92% accuracy rate. These include 4.8 passes to the final third. The above viz shows the progressive passes attempted by the midfielder. These are not directed to any particular direction.
Another element of his game is the ability to recover the ball in attacking areas. These high regains often lead to a shot and keep the attacking momentum. Moises Caicedo has already made five dangerous recoveries and all these have been made in the centre.
The above two pizza charts show the percentile rank of Moises Caicedo in comparison to other players in that particular role. For Brighton, he played as a left centre-mid and for Chelsea, he played as a defensive midfielder. Last season, Caicedo won most of his duels and was ranked amongst the top for positioning and winning duels. This season, he is still getting used to the new role at the Blues and improving his rank.
Moises Caicedo is yet to score or create a goal for his teammates. The youngster is adjusting to a star-studded team at the Bridge and will look to establish himself at the top level.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine