fear they will have to break the bank to sign this summer after set a £100m asking price for the Ecuador international.
The midfielder is ’s first choice following the club’s fire sale earlier this summer.
The likes of , Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic have all left Stamford Bridge in the last month.
That’s left a huge gap in Chelsea’s midfield and Pochettino had expected Caicedo to arrive in order to fill it.
The midfielder agreed personal terms with Chelsea at the end of last season, and he was hopeful that a fee could be agreed with Brighton before the .
However, Chelsea’s first bid of £60m for Caicedo was immediately turned down by Brighton.
Chelsea were never optimistic that their initial bid would be accepted, but felt it was a good starting point to reach a deal.
The Blues believed Brighton’s valuation of the midfielder was nearer £75m, having rejected just shy of £70m from Arsenal in January.
However, having seen , the Evening Standard say the Seagulls are holding out for a similar fee.
That means Chelsea’s second bid of around £70m plus add-ons, will be turned down.
Chelsea fear they will have to spend £100m+ on a midfielder for the second time in seven months .
Caicedo has attempted to engineer a move to Stamford Bridge by .
‘It’s a big team, that’s true,’ he told Ecuadorian television station TC Television last week.
‘A very historic team which I can’t say no [to joining] because it’s a very big, historic, beautiful team.
‘The city as well is beautiful. It’s got everything beautiful.’
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