Ken Early: Moises Caicedo transfer is a case study in hysteria PremierLeague
It was clear that for both clubs the force propelling Caicedo’s price to record-breaking levels was pure panic. Both seemed to have convinced themselves that this was about more than just one admittedly rather useful player, that somehow the entire credibility of their project was at stake.
The Chelsea chairman is a victim of his own decision to pay £105 million for Enzo Fernandez in January. That set the market at a level where West Ham demanded a similar sum for Declan Rice, which in turn entitled Brighton to seek a similar fee for Caicedo.
The sudden inflationary surge this year is down to Boehly and the Saudis, who between them have pumped more than a billion euro into the European transfer market over the last year. Strange to say, the sudden Saudi interest in football is more comprehensible and coherent than whatever it is Boehly is trying to achieve.
They have lost good players: Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona, Riyad Mahrez to Saudi Arabia. Kevin De Bruyne was running on fumes for weeks before his hamstring went in the Champions League final. He’s had eight years of brilliance already at City, how many more is it reasonable to expect? Rice and Kai Havertz add substance and style to Arsenal’s midfield, but their attack still leans too heavily on the brilliant young forwards Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. The arrival of Gabriel Jesus last season helped bring the best out the younger two, but injuries meant he played only 60 per cent of the minutes in the league. Even that was more minutes than he had managed in any of his six previous Premier League seasons.
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