Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber were signed and taken on the US tour. They all featured and have impressed in several areas of the field, playing different roles and finding their best positions, enabled by the swift movement in the market.
The former Sporting midfield made the switch to PSG early in the window but this didn't prompt Chelsea into raising rapidly their offers to Brighton. Their sluggishness has opened the door to a serious rival for the Ecuador international's signature.
However, it seems as though, at least for now, this is not the case. Liverpool are signing a player that makes them stronger without a doubt, but the complete overhaul of their midfield will raise questions of transition time and how they might adapt.
The benefit they have is Caicedo has played already with Alexis Mac Allister and so there should be some understanding between them - albeit now they will be operating in Jurgen Klopp’s system. How that pans out remains to be seen, but the Reds have shipped goals in pre-season against a variety of opposition.
Hypothetically if a move to Chelsea still materialised at this point, which isn’t yet off the cards, then the money being talked about now is well beyond the original £100million asking price. You have to question whether the Blues had put the money up a month ago he would have been theirs and involved in the pre-season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have gelled their team together, won the Community Shield against their main rivals for the Premier League title and look in great shape ahead of the new season despite a key injury to Gabriel Jesus. The work this summer has fully vindicated the strategy planned upon for months and what has gone on behind the scenes has been critical to its success.
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