Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo revealed he lost confidence amid the pressure of becoming British football’s record transfer when he signed to the club from Brighton in a deal worth up to £115 million last summer.
Caicedo was part of a vast spending spree by Chelsea’s new ownership led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly since the consortium acquired the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022 and he was one of several new expensive signings who struggled to find their best form immediately after signing for the club.
The Ecuadorean midfielder Caicedo, 22, said: “The beginning was tough for me, because you are at a big club, the price, you always have to win every game. It was tough for me because when I was in Brighton, the pressure was less. At Chelsea, it is different.
“I felt a lot of pressure because, you know. the club, the history, the players who were there before. It was really tough for me at the beginning. But after the last four or five months, I felt more comfortable at the club. A lot of people around me helped me.”
When asked who at the club supported him through his testing first season, Caicedo credited Chelsea’s recently departed head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
“I can say Mauricio and his staff,” Caicedo told reporters, ahead of Chelsea’s final preseason match in the United States against Real Madrid on Tuesday night. “They were with me when I felt like I was not the same Moisés. I said ‘Please help me because I want to show my quality, my football.’
“They were with me. I have a person outside of the club who helped me a lot to get the pressure out of my mind. It was my confidence. I (know) I have the quality. I know the player I am. But sometimes if you are not strong in your mind, it is difficult.”
Caicedo said he turned to a performance coach for additional support. He explained: “It’s a guy who after every game, we watch my game. He told me, ‘Moisés, you are a good player, you can do whatever you want on the pitch with responsibility. Just trust in yourself. If Chelsea paid that for you, it’s because you are a very good player.’”
His form gradually improved as the season progressed, ending the campaign in finer fettle, and he won the Premier League’s goal of the season with his strike against Bournemouth on the final day of the campaign.
Caicedo had initially appeared destined for Liverpool last summer, after Liverpool became the first club to agree a price with Brighton, but Caicedo insisted on joining Chelsea.
“It was difficult,” he reflects. “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 percent, I knew I wanted to go to Chelsea.”
Caicedo added that he believes he has more to show Chelsea fans during the coming campaign, saying “I can show my quality.”
He also said Enzo Maresca’s possession-based game is a good fit for him — and the new Chelsea coach has challenged his player to be a “boss” in Chelsea’s midfield.
Caicedo said: “He plays like the same system that I played in Brighton. He wants the same. He wants me to show my quality, to show good personality, to show to my team-mates that I am the boss on the pitch. For sure, I will be a good player with him.”
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